Antilia Bomb Scare case: Supreme Court grants bail to former cop Pradeep Sharma

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to Pradeep Sharma who was arrested in connection with the Antilia bomb-scare case and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiren. [Pradeep Rameshwar Sharma vs National Investigation Agency and anr].A bench of Justices AS Bopanna and PS Narasimha allowed Sharma's appeal against a Bombay High Court order denying bail."In the present facts, as against the role assigned to the appellant, invoking of the UAPA would pale into insignificance and the rigor of that law would not be applicable at this stage while considering the application of the appellant for bail ... in our opinion the fact that he was a police officer and has retired after rendering 37 years of service is a factor which should weigh in favour of the appellant as he has strong root in Mumbai and would be available to stand trial", the top court noted in granting bail..Sharma along with other accused including dismissed Mumbai cop Sachin Waze are accused of conspiring to place an explosive-laden SUV near the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani. They also stand accused of the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiren in February 2021.The Bombay High Court rejected Sharma's bail plea last January. This led to his appeal before the top court.Although the High Court rejected his bail plea, it also expressed its dissatisfaction over the probe conducted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).The High Court after going through the evidence on record failed to find material from the NIA chargesheet to indicate that Sharma was involved in the parking and planting of the gelatin sticks in the Scorpio car outside Antilia.The High Court opined that the agency had failed to carry out an in-depth investigation into the bomb scare case.Sharma's bail plea was rejected despite this as the High Court found material on record that pointed to Sharma’s complicity in the murder of Hiren..In May, the Supreme Court issued notice to the NIA and the Maharashtra government in the appeal challenging the High Court order. In June, Sharma was granted interim bail to tend to his ailing wife.The apex court in its judgment noted that there had been no adverse report about the appellant's conduct while he was out on the said interim bail..Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Siddhartha Dave with advocates Kumar Vaibhaw and Devina Sehgal appeared for Sharma before the top court. Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appeared for the NIA.[Read judgment]