The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to former Mumbai Police officer Pradeep Sharma, who was arrested in connection with the Antilia bomb scare case and the killing of businessman Mansukh Hiran.

A bench led by Justice A S Bopanna allowed Sharma’s appeal against the Bombay High Court order rejecting bail to him in January 2023. The bench had reserved its order on August 21 after hearing submissions of senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Sharma, and Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who represented the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the case.

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Sharma was arrested in June 2021 and booked for charges including murder, criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, causing disappearance, and destruction of evidence under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code; provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and the Arms Act.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) alleged that he was part of the conspiracy to murder the Thane resident Hiran, who was linked to the SUV parked outside Antilia, the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani on February 25, 2021. It was allegedly parked by the main accused and dismissed policeman Sachin Waze.

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Sharma along with police officers Daya Nayak, Vijay Salaskar and Ravindranath Angre, has also been a member of the Mumbai Police’s encounter squad that killed over 300 criminals in numerous encounters. Salaskar had died during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

(With inputs from PTI)