The Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed a habeas corpus petition filed by former Mumbai Police officer Sachin Waze challenging his arrest in the Antilia bomb scare case, reported Bar and Bench.

Waze was arrested by the National Investigation Agency in March 2021 for his alleged role in placing an explosives-laden vehicle at Carmichael road, which is close to industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s home.

Twenty gelatin sticks were recovered from a black SUV found less than two km from Ambani’s multi-storey home Antilia, on February 25. The police had said the gelatin recovered from the car was the commercial type that is used in mining and construction, and not military grade.

The vehicle’s owner, Mansukh Hiren, an auto parts dealer, was found dead on March 5 in Kalwa creek.

The Mumbai Police had suspended Waze, a crime branch officer.

In his plea before the High Court, Waze had argued that there had been procedural violations in extending his remand.

He also contended that his arrest was illegal because no prior sanction had been granted by the Union government. A sanction was needed because he was an investigating officer in the case before he was arrested and therefore, acts attributed to him were part of his official duty as a public servant, The Indian Express quoted Waze as having argued.

A bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and SM Modak dismissed Waze’s plea saying that “by no stretch of imagination” it can be said he was acting in an official capacity when he allegedly parked the vehicle.

In the chargesheet filed before a special court in Mumbai, the National Investigation Agency had claimed that Waze was involved in the conspiracy to regain his lost reputation. In 2004, he was suspended for 17 years after being arrested for the custodial death of 27-year-old software engineer Khwaja Yunus. Known as an “encounter specialist” in the Mumbai Police, Waze was granted bail after 58 days in custody. He was reinstated by the Mumbai Police in June 2020.

The over 10,000-page chargesheet filed by the investigating agency alleged Waze had parked the car outside Ambani’s home.

Waze was charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

In October, the High Court granted Waze bail in a corruption case involving former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. The bail was granted following a consent from the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the matter.