Sanjay Dutt anxious of court’s verdict

Sanjay Dutt anxious of court's verdict

Sanjay Dutt begins what could be his most nerve-wracking days from Monday when a special anti-terrorism court starts pronouncing the sentences on the remaining guilty in the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings.

Dutt, convicted under the Arms Act for possessing illegal arms, is awaiting his plea for relief under the Probation of Offenders Act. The court had absolved him of terror conspiracy.

On Thursday, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court turned down a plea by 16 blasts convicts that the TADA was not applicable to them as it had lapsed. They had cited a Supreme Court judgement on May 18 this year in which Justice Markandey Katju expressed an opinion about the constitutional validity of TADA after its repeal on May
24, 1995.

Rejecting the plea, special TADA judge Pramod Kode held that the convicts were only citing an apex court judge's opinion that questioned the "applicability" of TADA after it had lapsed. The convicts had argued that a trial judge had no jurisdiction to decide on a constitutional matter and therefore it should be referred either to the apex court or the Bombay High Court.

Kode had postponed reading out the quantum of jail terms for 24 convicts still remaining of the 100, including Dutt. The court has already pronounced sentences on 76 convicts, ranging from life imprisonment to five years rigorous imprisonment."With Thursday's order, the decks are now clear for the sentencing to resume," special public prosecutor Ujjal Nikam said.

"The judge has fixed the next hearing for July 16. We expect the sentencing of the remaining 24 convicts, including the bomb planters, four members of Tiger Memon's family and actor Sanjay Dutt in the coming days."Though the plea of the other convicts had no connection with Dutt, a decision on his leniency application was delayed.

Now, with the resumption trial from Monday, the anxious wait for the 48-year-old actor begins once again as the court would any day decide his fate. If his application for probation is rejected, Dutt faces at least five years in jail. The 1993 blasts left 257 people killed and hundreds injured.