Khushi Bajpai
Published on: 7th October, 2022 at 19:38 IST
The Delhi High Court dismissed Sachin Waze’s appeal against the authorization for his prosecution under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in connection with the Antilia bomb scare case on Friday. Waze is a former Mumbai police officer.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had approved Waze’s prosecution in September last year for his alleged role in placing an explosive-laden automobile close to industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai home as well as in connection with the slaying of auto-parts merchant Hiren Mansukh.
The petition was dismissed by a division bench consisting of Justices Mukta Gupta and Anish Dayal.
Since Waze is a Mumbai resident and is requesting relief in connection with legal actions taking place there, as well as Mumbai being the location of the authorities in charge of both the investigation and the adjudication of the case, the Court determined that it cannot exercise territorial jurisdiction to decide the case.
For the aforementioned reasons, the Court determined that the Respondent No. 1’s order granting sanction for prosecution under Section 45 (1) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 would have to be taken into consideration along with and in conjunction with the investigations and proceedings to which it relates.
As a result, the Court determined that the Mumbai courts would have the natural and logical jurisdiction to decide the issues raised in the writ petition.
The Central Government had filed preliminary objections to its constitutionality in the Delhi High Court. Given that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which is based in Delhi, issued the sanction order, Waze asserted that the Delhi High Court has geographical jurisdiction over the matter.
According to the argument, the Delhi High Court Division Bench’s 2009 decision, which the Supreme Court confirmed, gives it the authority to handle the issue.
Waze was represented by senior attorney Santosh Paul, M. Shetty, and Chaitanya Sharma.
For the Union of India, ASG SV Raju, CGSC Kirtiman Singh, and attorneys Madhav Bajan and Yash Upadhyay were present.
The NIA was represented by SPPs Akshai Malik and Sandeep K Sadawarte, as well as attorneys Shrikant and Khawar Saleem.