(DPA)
20 August 2007
NEW DELHI - Indian film actor Sanjay Dutt, who was earlier sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings, was granted interim bail on Monday by the country's Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court granted Dutt interim bail as the anti-terrorism court trying the actor failed to provide its detailed judgement at the time of jailing him.
Five other accused were also granted interim bail for the same reasons.
The court has asked the 48-year-old Dutt to surrender to the trial court for consideration of regular bail after he receives a copy of the judgement.
Dutt has been ordered to report, once a week, to the nearest local police station in Mumbai.
Presently serving his term in the western city Pune's Yerwada jail, where he has taken up carpentry as part of his "hard labour," the popular actor was taken into custody soon after the July pronouncement of the sentence.
Convicted in 2006 on charges of possessing an AK-56 rifle and a 9 mm pistol, part of an arms consignment for use in the serial bombings that killed 257 people, Dutt was send to a six-year jail term on July 31, 2007.
Dutt spent 16 months in jail during the initial investigations into the blasts.
In the Mumbai bombings case 123 people were charged. A hundred people, mostly Muslims, were found guilty on charges of conspiracy, smuggling the bombs or planting explosives in cars and scooters in the city.
Twelve people were sentenced to death, while 20 others face life sentences. The death sentences are subject to approval by India's Supreme Court. More than 50 others found guilty will serve between three and 14 years in jail.
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