Antilia bomb scare case: SC extends interim bail granted to Pradeep Sharma

The Supreme Court on Monday extended by two weeks the interim bail of former Mumbai Police officer Pradeep Sharma who was arrested in connection with the Antilia bomb scare case and the killing of businessman Mansukh Hiran in view of his wifes surgeryA bench of Justices AS Bopanna and Bela M Trivedi however said since the interim bail is being extended time and again this will be the last extensionIf the surgery does not happen within this period the petitioner Pradeep Sharma will have to surrender after two weeks There will not be any more extensions of interim bail the bench told senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appearing for SharmaRohatgi said he will surrender if the surgery of his wife is not conducted by thenThis time surgery could not be conducted as her blood pressure was not stabilising he saidThe bench said after Sharmas surrender the court will take up his plea for regular bailAdditional Solicitor General SV Raju appearing for NIA said Sharma has been seeking extension of interim bail time and again citing various reasonsOn June 26 the top court had extended by four weeks the interim bail granted to SharmaOn June 5 the top court had granted three weeks interim bail to Sharma after noting that his wife has to undergo surgeryThe top court had said Sharma will be released on interim bail subject to conditions imposed by the trial courtIt had on May 18 issued notice on Sharmas plea challenging an order of the Bombay High Court which had refused to grant him bailThe high court had expressed anguish at the manner in which the National Investigation Agency NIA had probed the caseIt had noted that the NIAs probe was silent on the coconspirators involved with dismissed policeman Sachin Waze in planting gelatin sticks in an SUV parked outside the residence of industrialist Mukesh AmbaniOn February 25 2021 an explosivesladen SUV was found near Ambanis 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 2021The allegation against Sharma who along with police officers Daya Nayak Vijay Salaskar and Ravindranath Angre was a member of the Mumbai Polices encounter squad that killed over 300 criminals in numerous encounters was that he had helped his former colleague Waze in eliminating HiranSalaskar had died during the 2611 Mumbai terror attackSharma had approached the high court last year challenging a February 2022 order of a special NIA court rejecting his bail plea He was arrested in the case in June 2021This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever