The D’ Day came for Sanjay Dutt on Tuesday when the special TADA court held him guilty under the Arms Act. The court, however, cleared him of any involvement in criminal conspiracy in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.
Three years is the minimum sentence for the charges under which Dutt has been found guilty. Although, Dutt has been already spent 18 months in Jail. This period will be reduced from the sentence he is likely to be given.
Dutt, accused no 117, was convicted for keeping three AK-56 rifles, ammunitions, a 9 mm pistol, cartridges and hand grenades in a notified area.
TADA court judge Pramod Kode said in the judgment as
Dutt is not a terrorist, he is not guilty of terror conspiracy.
Now there are some possibilities for Sanjay’s next move such as
# Sanjay Dutt will now be in jail until the sentence is pronounced.
# The court of appeal for TADA courts is Supreme Court where appeals can be made within 28 days.
# Dutt will continue to serve his sentence until his appeal comes up for hearing.
# Dutt may get interim bail on the sufficient grounds.
# Sanjay Dutt, might be free then, until a higher court delivers its final verdict.
Dutt’s lawyer said that they are applying for bail in higher court. Dutt also pleaded for continuation of bail to the court.
The prosecution had framed charges under Section 120-b IPC (conspiracy), Section 3 (3) of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (prevention) Act and under Section 5 of TADA Act for possessing weapons, under Section 6 of the same Act for breaching provisions of other Acts and under Section 3 and 7 read with Section 25 of the Arms Act.
