Antilia bomb scare: SC asks former cop Pradeep Sharma to file fresh interim bail plea
May 29, 2023
New Delhi [India], May 29 : The Supreme Court on Monday asked former police officer Pradeep Sharma, arrested in connection with the Antilia bomb scare case and the killing of businessman Mansukh Hiran, to file a fresh application seeking interim bail.
A vacation bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Prashant Kumar Mishra posted the matter for hearing on June 5 while taking note of the submission of Additional Solicitor General SV Raju that Sharma has sought interim bail without filing an interlocutory application (application in appeal already filed).
Sharma was arrested in the case in June 2021 and is currently in judicial custody.
He sought interim bail on humanitarian grounds.
At the outset, the counsel appearing for Sharma said Sharma's wife has developed serious complications after surgery and her condition was deteriorating with each passing day.
Sharma sought interim bail for the limited purpose of taking care of his wife, his counsel told the bench.
ASG, however, opposed his bail plea saying Sharma's wife has been meeting him often in the hospital.
On May 18, the apex court had issued notice on Sharma's plea challenging an order of the Bombay High Court which had refused to grant him bail.
Sharma had approached the High Court last year challenging a February 2022 order of a special NIA court which had declined his bail plea.
On February 25, 2021, an explosives-laden SUV was found near Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani's residence 'Antilia' in south Mumbai. Businessman Hiran, who was in possession of the SUV, was found dead in a creek in neighbouring Thane on March 5 last year.
Sharma, who along with police officers Daya Nayak, Vijay Salaskar and Ravindranath Angre was a member of the Mumbai police's encounter squad that killed over 300 criminals in numerous encounters, has been accused of helping his former colleague Waze in eliminating Mansukh Hiran.
