Jail or freedom? Dutt learns today

Mumbai: Actor Sunjay Dutt, one of the hundred people found guilty in the 1993 Mumbai serial blast case, has a crucial appearance before a city court on Wednesday.

Special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) judge P D Kode will decide Dutt’s appeal to be let off probation for good behaviour.

Dutt, who spent nearly 16 months as an under-trial before being released in 1996 on bail, has been found guilty of illegal possession of arms but was absolved of the more serious charges of conspiracy.

Dutt has appealed for relief under the Probation of Offenders Act, which permits courts to release a person convicted of offences not punishable by death or life sentence.

Dutt, other accused in the case say, has got away lightly. He has been convicted under the under the Arms Act for keeping an AK-56 rifle and a 9-mm pistol, which were part of the arms consignment used in the blasts.

But Manzoor Ahmed who removed guns from Dutt's bungalow was found guilty under TADA. Ahmed kept the guns at the house of Zaibunissa Kazi, who too has been convicted under TADA for

The prosecution alleges that Dutt asked for the weapons in the first place, kept them at home and ordered their destruction when trouble arose.

Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who was instrumental in securing Dutt's conviction, is perceived to be disappointed with the court’s judgment.

THE BLASTS CASE
	Sentencing will be the final chapter in 14-year-long case. Special TADA court began delivering verdicts in September.
	The serial blasts on March 12, 1993 had claimed more than 257 lives and left thousands injured.
	While the gory sights of death and destruction at the Air-India building in the posh Nariman Point area, at Bombay Stock Exchange and at Century Bazaar in Worli have since been forgotten, the trial has dragged on and on.
	The investigations and trial proved too voluminous. Till the end, the prosecution presented approximately 43,000 pages as part of its chargesheet and evidence.
	The court recorded more than 13,000 pages of oral evidence, more than 7,000 pages of documentary evidence and secured 135 confessions and 686 witness statements.
	Separate trials of Abu Salem, Riyaz Siddiqui and Mustafa Majnoo were ordered. The main accused - Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel, Anees Ibrahim, Mushtaq Memon, and Tiger Memon - are among the 35 others, who are yet to be brought to book.
	During the protracted trial, two accused - including Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi - were discharged by the court.
	The CBI had taken over the investigation soon after the blasts and filed its first chargesheet in November 1993 itself. At least 30 accused have been in jail ever since the blasts occurred in 1993. Some of the witnesses examined by the prosecution turned hostile.
	Sanjay Dutt Angle: Film actor Sanjay Dutt was charged with possessing an AK-56 rifle and later destroying it with the help of his friends. However, the actor denied the charge by retracting his statement to the police.
	On August 10, the designated TADA judge P D Kode had begun dictating the verdict and had said that court would pronounce judgment on September 12.