Delhi HC dismisses Sachin Vaze’s plea under UAPA

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a plea by sacked Mumbai top cop Sachin Waze challenging a sanction order to prosecute him under UAPA in relation to the Antilia bomb scare case.
The Division Bench of Justice Mukta Gupta and Justice Anish Dayal dismissed the plea filed by Waze for lack of territorial jurisdiction. Senior Advocate, Puneet Bali appeared for the petitioner and argued that the Delhi High Court has the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the said Petition in view of Article 226(2) of the Constitution of India as impugned Order granting Sanction to prosecute the Petitioner was passed by an authority in New Delhi, hence, substantial cause of action has arisen within the jurisdiction of this Court.
He further submitted that the petitioner has also challenged the vires of Section 15(1) of the UAPA.
Upon a question posed by the bench on whether an issue of Sanction can be challenged at this stage or will be a matter of trial, Bali argued that the issuance of the Sanction to prosecute the Petitioner under UAPA, has caused prejudice to the petitioner. Due to invocation of UAPA, the twin limitation on grant of bail as well as the right to be released on statutory bail under Section 167(2) CrPC has been taken away.
The lawyer concluded that as the prejudice is immediate and affects the fundamental rights under Article 21, the petitioner has rightly challenged the sanction at this stage.
Earlier, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had given the sanction for Waze’s prosecution in September 2020 for his alleged role and involvement in the Antilla bomb scare case. The case is being probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
A car carrying unassembled explosive materials was found abandoned at Carmichael Road in South Mumbai on February 2021, near the house of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani. The owner of the vehicle was later found dead in a creek in the Thane district. Maharashtra ATS is investigating the case.