A Special Court of National Investigation Agency (NIA) headed by A.T. Wankhede on Wednesday rejected a petition of dismissed cop of Maharashtra Police Sachin Vaze where he had requested the court to keep him on house arrest for the next three months. He had requested house arrest as he has undergone Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) surgery recently.
The NIA court allowed him homemade food but it directed the jail authorities to take Sachin Vaze to Taloja jail after he is discharged from the hospital. The court further said that Sachin Vaze will be kept in the jail hospital for a month. The hospital authority too has been asked to inform the court 48 hours before Sachin Vaze is discharged from the hospital.
On September 13, Sachin Vaze had undergone surgery at the Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai. After the bypass surgery, he had filed a petition through his lawyers Sajal Yadav and Aarti Kalekar for three months house arrest, so that he can spend the next three months at his home. He had pleaded that he has undergone a complex heart surgery with five grafts and he is likely to be discharged from the hospital on September 28. But owing to the unhygienic condition of jail there is a high chance of infection hence he should be kept in house arrest.
The court, however, during the course of the hearing had deferred his discharge from the hospital since the court wanted a response from Taloja jail where he was taken after his arrest.
Sachin Vaze, the dismissed inspector of Mumbai police was arrested by NIA for his role in Antilia bomb scare and the murder of Mansukh Hiran murder case.
In his plea he had cited medical grounds as well as the case of alleged Maoist ideologue Varavara Rao. Sachin Vaze maintained that Varavara Rao, arrested in the Elgaar Parishad case, was given bail for six months on medical grounds by the Bombay High Court.
NIA opposed the application saying the case of Varavara Rao and Sachin Vaze are quite different. The NIA said that investigation against Sachin Vaze has been completed and a charge-sheet filed. Hence in such a situation, judicial custody can’t be converted into a house arrest.
NIA said Taloja jail hospital is equipped with facilities that will take the best care of him. It also raised apprehension that Sachin Vaze may abscond from house arrest.
