Court refuses to stay production warrant against Sachin Vaze in extortion case

A magistrate on Saturday refused to stay a production warrant issued against dismissed police officer Sachin Vaze in an extortion case, citing that the accused cannot approach the court directly with a plea saying he should not be produced before the court.

The special NIA court had on Friday allowed the Mumbai police to take custody of Vaze for interrogation in connection with an extortion case registered at Goregaon police station.

The special court had directed the prison authorities to hand over Vaze's custody to the crime branch on November 1 and has further instructed the prison to take back Vaze's custody after he is produced before the magistrate court.

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Vaze's lawyer Raunak Naik approached the magistrate court on Saturday, seeking a stay on the production warrant it had issued. The accused in his plea claimed that he has not fully recovered post his complex heart surgery in September, and has been advised to follow certain dos and don'ts.

Appearing for the Mumbai police, advocate Shekhar Jagtap vehemently objected the application on the ground that there is no provision in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) to stay a production warrant.

After hearing both sides, additional chief metropolitan magistrate S B Bhajipale found that the application was not maintainable and rejected it. As per provisions in the CrPC, the officer in charge of prison may abstain from carrying out the production warrant on the ground of reason of sickness or infirmity of the person, unfit to be removed from the prison, the court said.

However, the court noted that the jail authorities had not intimated it about such a situation. "The accused cannot claim directly by approaching before this court that he should not be produced before the court," the magistrate said.

It further said that the investigating officer is authorised to take a decision regarding the place of interrogation of the accused.

"Considering the facts and circumstances, I have come to the conclusion that the present application is not maintainable, hence rejected."

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

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