JUDGEMENT

V.G. BISHT, J.

1. Rule. Rule made returnable forthwith. By consent, heard finally at the stage of admission.

2. By this appeal under Section 21 of the National Investigating Agency Act, 2008 (NIA for short), the appellant seeks quashing and setting aside of the impugned order dated 20th August 2021 passed by the learned Special Judge - NIA, City Civil and Sessions Court, for Greater Bombay, below Exhibit 56 in NIA Special Case No. 06 of 2019 by which the appellant’s application for bail came to be rejected and as such, seeks his enlargement on bail.

3. Before we appreciate the rival contentions of the parties, we deem it proper to outline the factual aspects of the prosecution case.

4. On 1st May 2019, an IED blast took place under the bridge on Purada-Kurkheda Road, Gadchiroli, in which fifteen QRT policemen and one civilian driver were killed. On 2nd May 2019, First Information Report (FIR) No. 19 of 2019 was registered at Purada Police Station, Gadchiroli under Sections 302, 353, 120B, 147, 149, 427 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Sections 16, 18, 20, 23 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (U.A.P. Act for short), Sections 4 and 5 of Explosive Substances Act and under Sect