MUMBAI: Three days after being handed the Mansukh Hiran murder case probe by the Centre, the National Investigating Agency (NIA) on Tuesday filed an application before the Thane magistrate to transfer the case records and proceedings to the special NIA court in Mumbai.
The Thane court has asked the public prosecutor and investigating officer of ATS to file their say on Wednesday.
The ATS will oppose the plea on the grounds that the agency has already arrested two people, including convicted cop Vinayak Shinde, and has made substantial progress. “We have almost cracked the case. Secondly, we are still awaiting orders from the state government,” said a source.
Sources said NIA moved the court after allegedly seeing non-cooperation from the state over handing over the probe.
But a senior lawyer said the NIA application is a formal procedural request since it is an inter-court transfer of case proceedings from a magistrate to NIA special court.
On March 20, the Union home ministry directed NIA, which had earlier taken over the car explosives case, to also investigate the Hiran murder which the state ATS was probing.
Waze is in custody of the NIA in the explosives case. On March 20, ATS also sought custody of Waze.
NIA sought transfer of records including case documents and all articles of the ATS case to the special court at the sessions court in Mumbai “to meet the ends of justice.”