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Sanjay Dutt moves apex court for bail
26th Oct 2007 09.00 IST
By Agencies

Pleading that there was no likelihood of his appeal being heard at an early date, Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking regular bail against his conviction in the 1993 Mumbai serial blast case.

In his petition filed through counsel K Hari Shankar, Dutt assured that he was willing to abide by any condition, which the apex court might impose for granting him bail.

Dutt was earlier granted an interim bail by the apex court on the condition that he would surrender after obtaining a copy of his conviction order.

Dutt said that after being initially granted bail in 1996 by the trial judge he had travelled abroad over 50 times, but had never breached the bail conditions imposed upon him.

Dutt maintained that though he has been sentenced to six years imprisonment by the designated TADA judge P D Kode under the Arms Act, he still hoped that the apex court would release him on probation by setting aside the order of the conviction.

He submitted that the TADA judge as per the law did not obtain a report from the probation officer before rejecting his plea for release on probation.

However, since the appeal filed by him on August 7 would take a considerably long time as the judgment of the TADA court was spread over 10,000 pages, Dutt said he should be released on bail to avoid his further incarceration.

According to Dutt, he had already spent 17 months in jail since his arrest in the case and his continued incarceration would be causing him and his family members a great deal of hardship.

On July 31, Dutt was re-arrested after the TADA court sentenced him to six years imprisonment, but was granted interim bail by the apex court.

The TADA court has held him guilty of possessing an AK 56 rifle and a pistol under the Arms Act but acquitted him of charges under the TADA.

On August 20, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Dutt on the condition that he would surrender after receiving the judgment copy, which he received this week.

While providing relief to Dutt, the apex court took into consideration that he was on bail since October 16, 1995 till July 31, 2007 the day, he was sentenced to six-year jail term.

In the appeal filed against his conviction on August 7, Dutt had submitted that the designated judge had erred in holding him guilty under the Arms Act as no arms and ammunition were recovered from his possession or from his residence at his instance.

Dutt, 48, was convicted in November last year for the illegal possession of a 9 mm pistol and an AK-56 rifle, but acquitted of more serious charges under the now defunct anti-terror TADA law.

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