Court rejects Sachin Vaze’s plea to stay production warrant in extortion case

The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Friday permitted the Mumbai Police to take custody of the dismissed cop for interrogation in the extortion case registered at Goregaon police station.

A magistrate court on Saturday dismissed a plea to stay a production warrant issued against former Mumbai police officer Sachin Vaze in an extortion case, news agency PTI reported. While giving its order, the court noted that the accused cannot directly approach the court with a petition, saying that he must not be produced before it.

Dismissed Mumbai Police officer Sachin Vaze. (PTI FILE)

Notably, the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Friday permitted the Mumbai Police to take custody of the dismissed cop for interrogation in the matter registered at Goregaon police station. According to the PTI report, the special court directed that prison authorities hand over Vaze’s custody to the city police’s crime branch on November 1, and take the same back after he is produced before the magistrate court.

In his plea, Vaze alleged that he is yet to completely recover from his complex heart surgery that was done in September, and has been advised to follow certain dos and don’ts.

However, lawyer Shekhar Jagtap, who appeared for Mumbai Police, objected to the plea application on grounds that there is no provision in the CrPC to stay a production warrant.

The court while rejecting Vaze’s plea stated that according to CrPC provisions, the officer in-charge of prison may refrain from carrying out the production warrant on the ground of illness or infirmity of the person, unfit to be removed from the prison. But, the court added, the jail authorities hadn’t intimated it about such a scenario.

The magistrate court also said that the officer probing the extortion case reserves the authority to decide the place where Vaze will be questioned by Mumbai Police.

Notably, Vaze is currently lodged in Taloja jail, and is an accused in the Antilia bomb scare case and the murder of businessman Mansukh Hiren.

Last month, the special NIA court had rejected the former Mumbai cop’s plea to be kept in house custody for the next three months following his heart surgery, which was conducted on September 13.