India, March 13 -- 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,...