A special court for cases probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently rejected an application by an accused in the 2021 Antilia bomb scare and Mansukh Hiran murder case seeking to retract his alleged confession, holding that the matter had already been decided earlier and could not be reopened in the absence of new circumstances.
The petitioner, Manish Vasantbhai Soni, was accused of driving the car in which Hiran, a businessman, was allegedly murdered. Soni sought to retract the confessional statement attributed to him, saying it was not voluntary and recorded under duress and threats to him and his family.
However, on March 7, the court noted that Soni had filed a similar application in February 2025, which had already been disposed of. At the time, the court had said that the question of retraction of the confession recorded before the metropolitan magistrate, and its legal consequences, would be considered during the final hearing of the case.
Special judge Chakor S Baviskar rejected the fresh plea, holding that it merely elaborated on the earlier allegations of coercion and did not disclose any change in circumstances warranting reconsideration. “Once this court has decided one particular prayer of one particular accused, then the same prayer cannot be agitated before the same court without there being any sufficient and satisfactory cause,” the judge said.
The court also clarified that the alleged retraction would be examined, along with other evidentiary questions, during the final adjudication of the trial.
The case stems from the sensational February 2021 incident, when an explosives-laden SUV was found parked near Antilia, the south Mumbai residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani. The vehicle, a Mahindra Scorpio, also contained a threatening note addressed to Ambani and his wife, triggering a major security scare in the city.
Investigators later traced the vehicle to a Thane-based businessman, Hiran, who had reported it stolen days earlier. Hiran went missing on March 4, 2021, and his body was recovered the following day from a creek in Thane district, prompting allegations that he had been killed as part of the conspiracy linked to the bomb scare.
The Mumbai police initially handled the investigation before the NIA took over. The agency invoked provisions of the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, along with offences under the Indian Penal Code and the Explosive Substances Act. The agency’s charge sheet alleged that former police officer Sachin Waze and other co-accused conspired to plant the explosives-laden vehicle near Ambani’s residence and later orchestrated Hiran’s killing.
Apart from Waze and Soni, the accused in the case include former encounter specialist cop Pradeep Sharma, several other police personnel, and civilians alleged to have played roles in the conspiracy and its aftermath. The case, which triggered significant political and administrative fallout in Maharashtra at the time, is currently at the trial stage before the NIA special court in Mumbai.