Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt has been pronounced guilty under the Arms Act for possession of illegal weapons, in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case by a TADA court in Mumbai .
The Special TADA court in Mumbai found the actor guilty of charges framed under the Sections 3 (possession of firearms and ammunition, i.e. registered 9 mm pistol, without proper license[1]) and 7 (have in his possession for transferof prohibited arms or prohibited ammunition, i.e. AK-56 rifle[2]) read with Section 25 9imprisonment of maximum of 3.5 years or with fine, or with both[3]) of the Arms Act.
Judge Pramod Kode gave the decision in the 11-year trial on the series of blasts on March 12, 1993, that killed 257 people. He did not find Dutt to be a terrorist or destructor.
47-year-old Sanjay Dutt has been charged under Section 120B IPC (rigorous imprisonment for a term of minimum two years for criminal conspiracy[4]), Section 3 (3) of TADA (P) act (for conspiring to facilitate the commission of a terrorist act, minimum imprisonment of five years[5]).
The minimum punishment for these charges would be five-year sentence. Before being granted bail Dutt has already spent almost 18 months in the jail as an undertrial.
Meanwhile, co-accused Yusuf Nulwala and Kersi Adajania were also found guilty under the arms act. Other accused persons are Samir Hingora, Ibrahim Moosa, Manzoor Ahmed, Zebunissa, Rusi Mulla and Ajay Marwah.
Dutt was in possession of one AK-56 rifle and its ammunition, a 9 mm pistol and its cartridges.
The appeals for TADA court could be made in Supreme Court within 28 days. According to legal experts, Dutt’s lawyers would try and move High Court, saying he has been convicted not under TADA act, but the Arms Act.
After hearing a petintion moved by Dutt’s lawyers, the court granted him an interim relief of twenty days. Now he has to surrender himself to the Mumbai police by December 19.