An approver cannot be granted bail until the trial is over, and this rule is meant to protect the person from the "wrath" of the co-accused, a special court here has said while denying relief to dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze.
Special judge for CBI cases S.H. Galwani denied bail to Mr. Vaze on June 20, but the detailed order became available on June 23.
Mr. Vaze recently turned an approver (or prosecution witness) and was granted pardon in a case in which former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh is the main accused.
Mr. Vaze, in his plea filed through advocate Raunak Naik, had said that no final report had been filed against him, and hence he was entitled to ‘default bail’ under the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
But the court noted in the order denying him relief that the CrPC section 306(4) stipulates that unless the pardoned person is already out on bail, he or she shall be detained in custody till the termination of the trial.
"The object, purpose and intention behind the provision is not to punish him for having agreed to give evidence for the state, but to protect him from the wrath of the co-accused, since he has chosen to expose their deeds and has thrown himself open to attack by the co-accused," the court said.
There might have been a delay in filing the charge sheet, but that is of no consequence because section 306 (4) is intended for the protection of the accused or the person who has been tendered pardon, it added.
Mr. Vaze was arrested in March 2021 for his alleged role in placing a car with explosives near industrialist Mukesh Ambani's south Mumbai residence and the subsequent murder of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran. He is currently in judicial custody.
In a related development, the Enforcement Directorate, in a reply filed before the court, has said it has no objection to Mr. Vaze's plea seeking to turn approver in a money laundering case involving Anil Deshmukh, an NCP leader.
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