Court rejects Sachin Waze’s default bail plea, calls it ‘meritless’

Waze had filed a similar plea seeking default bail in June which was also rejected.

On Thursday, the judge also said that he had refrained from imposing costs on Waze as he was in custody but said that the order would give a message to others who make “such meritless applications in future with a view to waste the court’s time”. The court also rejected the default bail plea of co-accused in the case, dismissed assistant inspector Riyazuddin Kazi.

Last week, the NIA had sought an extension to file the chargesheet against Waze and five others stating that the investigation was enormous and the accused, most of whom were well-trained policeman, had dodged the probe from time to time. The NIA was granted an extension of two months in June. The agency has a maximum of 180 days to file the chargesheet as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) has been invoked in the case.

Waze had claimed that since the Act was not invoked against him at the time of his arrest or first remand, the NIA should have filed the chargesheet within 90 days as per provisions of the Indian Penal Code. The court did not accept the contention and the NIA can now file the chargesheet in September.