Bollywood star seeks bail in deadly bombings case

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, jailed for six years for getting guns from gangsters involved in India's worst bombing, challenged his conviction in the Supreme Court on Thursday and sought bail.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, jailed for six years for getting guns from gangsters involved in India's worst bombing, challenged his conviction in the Supreme Court on Thursday and sought bail.

The actor was convicted for taking an AK-56 rifle and a pistol from gangsters linked to the bombings in which 257 people were killed in the financial capital, Mumbai, in 1993.

Dutt's appeal said his conviction by a special anti-terrorism court was based on a confession he later retracted. It said the confession was obtained under duress.

"For a confession to be accepted, it must be voluntary and free from any kind of pressure and coercion," Dutt's petition said.

The petition, which said the actor should be given bail because there was no chance of him fleeing, also urged that he be released on probation because he was a first-time offender whose actions had not harmed anyone.

A special Mumbai court sentenced Dutt in August. But he got bail from the Supreme Court after spending 24 days in jail until he was served a copy of the judgment so he could challenge it in the country's highest court.

Dutt, 48, was handed a copy of the more than 4,300-page judgment on Monday, after which he surrendered and was sent back to prison in the western Indian city of Pune.

The actor is now seeking to stay out of jail while the Supreme Court hears his petition challenging the verdict. An appeal in the court could take years to be heard.

Even the bail petition could take days to come up, but in India celebrity cases are sometimes expedited.

Dutt has said he acquired the weapons to protect his family during communal riots in 1993.

 
Actor Sanjay Dutt

NEW DELHI: Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt moved the Supreme Court on Thursday, challenging his conviction and six-year imprisonment awarded by the TADA court in the "1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case". He also filed an interim application seeking a direction to release him on bail.

Dutt said the prosecution case was that he was in possession of an illegal weapon from January 16, 1993, to April 12, 1993 (in the notified area under the TADA Act). Further, it stated that he was in possession of a 9-mm pistol from September 1992. He said no arms or ammunition were recovered from him or his residence or at his instance.

He said there was no credible evidence against him and the prosecution had failed to discharge the burden cast upon it.

The procedure adopted by the trial court was in utter violation of the Criminal Procedure Code and Article 21 of the Constitution (right to life and liberty), he argued, adding that his conviction was entirely based on inadmissible evidence, and, as such, the judgment rendered by the trial court was erroneous in law and consequently unsustainable.

The actor said the TADA court judge had acquitted him of any involvement in the conspiracy in the case and convicted him for an offence under the Arms Act. Hence the rigorous conditions for grant of bail would not apply to him.

Dutt said that during the pendency of the trial he was on bail for over 12 years.

During this period he had abided by all the conditions stipulated in the bail order.

He prayed for quashing the impugned judgment and his release on bail until the disposal of the criminal appeal.

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