Sanjay Dutt to be imprisoned for six years?

Court concludes hearing with Dutt’s plea challenging the verdict.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) urged the Indian Supreme Court on Thursday to sustain the six-year jail term sentenced to Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt for sourcing a pistol, a rifle and some ammunition from the bombers of the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

The CBI took this stand before the apex court, while supporting its contention against the actor with the proof of tampering with evidence. The CBI also said that Sanjay Dutt broke the rifle into several pieces before disposing it off.

The hearing was concluded with Dutt’s plea challenging his conviction and the verdict of six-year sentence.

The actor had told the court earlier that his possession of a rifle and ammunition was an act of self-defense and was not linked to the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.

Recently, the actor had also admitted that he once had dinner at Dawood Ibrahim’s house in Dubai but denied any friendship with the underworld don.

Dutt was arrested after the blasts in 1993 and spent 18 months in jail before being granted conditional bail. In 2007, he was convicted and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Court (TADA) for possessing a 9mm pistol and an AK-56 rifle. In August 2007, he challenged his conviction in the Supreme Court and sought bail which was granted in November 2007.

Mumbai bomb blasts that struck the city in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition in Uttar Pradesh on December 6, 1992, were allegedly carried out by Mumbai’s Muslim-dominated underworld, with Ibrahim as the mastermind of the attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2012.