MUMBAI: A day after a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court granted bail to former Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze in the Antilia explosives scare and the related murder of Thane-based businessman Mansukh Hiran, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday stayed the order temporarily.

Antilia explosives scare: HC stays bail granted to former cop Sachin Waze

“Having heard learned ASG (additional solicitor general Anil C Singh), as also having perused the impugned order dated 29.09.2026, we are inclined to grant an ad-interim stay to the said order till the adjourned date of hearing,” a division bench of justices Girish Kulkarni and Dr Neela Gokhale said and posted the matter for further hearing on October 7.

The NIA had moved the high court immediately after the special court granted Waze bail on Tuesday and the matter was first placed before a division bench of justices Sarang Kotwal and Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale on Tuesday itself. However, the bench recused itself from hearing the matter, stating that while working as a lawyer, justice Kotwal used to be associated with senior advocate Manoj Mohite, who had earlier appeared for Waze.

Subsequently, the NIA’s appeal was listed before a division bench of justices Bharati Dangre and Ashish Chavan on Wednesday. But when the matter was called out, justice Dangre refused to hear the appeal, saying that she was a part of another bench which had passed an order pertaining to Waze in a separate criminal case.

“I will have to recuse myself from hearing the matter. I understand that this is a different matter but still there are connections here and there. It should be placed before another bench,”Justice Dangre said.

The case arises from three interconnected first information reports (FIRs) registered in Mumbai in February-March 2021. The first FIR was registered on February 18, 2021, based on Thane-based auto parts dealer Mansukh Hiran’s complaint about his Mahindra Scorpio SUV being stolen from Vikhroli.

On February 25, the “stolen” vehicle was found parked outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence, Antilia, with 20 gelatine sticks and a letter threatening the Ambani family. This triggered the second FIR, while the third FIR pertained to the alleged murder of Hiran, whose body was found dumped in a creek near Mumbra on March 5, 2021.

According to the NIA, Waze himself had parked the vehicle outside Antilia, and given a contract to Pradip Sharma, his former encounter squad colleague, to kill Hiran; this was allegedly after Hiran refused to take the blame for planting the vehicle. Sharma allegedly arranged for four contract killers while another serving police officer, inspector Sunil Mane, fetched Hiran from his house and handed him over to the contract killers.

Waze was arrested by the NIA on March 13, 2021 and he is currently lodged in the Thane Central Prison.

On Tuesday, he was granted bail by a special NIA court, which observed that the prosecution had failed to establish in whose mind Waze wanted to create terror. “There was absolutely nothing on record even to infer that the Ambanis or any one of them is/was, are/were ever terrorised in any manner. Rather, the facts appear otherwise. Day-to-day business of the Ambanis does not appear to have been disturbed even for a minute,” the special court had said while granting bail to the former police officer.