Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt. PHOTO: FILE
The series of bombings killed 257 people in the city.
The court also upheld the death penalty for the mastermind of the attack, the deadliest in the country's history.
Yakub Memon, brother of the alleged main plotter and fugitive Tiger Memon, was the only one of 11 convicts to see his death sentence upheld by the court for his role in the blasts which wounded more than 800 people.
Announcing the sentences, Supreme Court judge P. Sathashivam said the Memon brothers and another fugitive suspect who is said to be living in Pakistan "were archers and rest of the appellants were arrows in their hands".
"They were the architects of the blasts," Sathashivam, one of two judges presiding over the case, said.
The remaining convicts who had appealed against the death penalty saw their sentences commuted to life imprisonment.
Executions are only carried out for "the rarest of rare" cases in India but President Pranab Mukherjee has rejected a number of mercy pleas in the last few months, ending an unofficial eight-year moratorium.
Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri convicted of involvement in a deadly 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, was executed in New Delhi last month, triggering angry protests in the disputed region.
The lone surviving gunman from the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, was hanged last November, in the first execution in the country since 2004.
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@Arijit Sharma you are not so good at your point.
Gulam Rasool"Kuldeep sharma" New Delhi
@spade: It's not relevant.
@Rana: There were serial bomb blasts in Mumbai in 1993 during which 257 people lost their lives. NAturally there was detailed investigation of that incident and Dutt was caught as aprt of that investigation. He has not denied storing weapons but claimed that he was not aware of their intended use. Its on this basis hat he was not charged under TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities) act which would have resulted in a much greater sentence.
is it relevant to mention here that present Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir happens to be a muslim. Apparantly he is the fourth muslim CJI in India.
@Rana: Very good point. In addition most of rape cases remain unresolved in India. So what justice is the Indian trolls talking about. Pathetic.
I think the law of the country is supreme and the supreme court of India has taken a right decision.I think we Indians should not mix religion into the judgement.A crime,criminal and his religions should be separated.Its a warning given by the supreme court that such acts should not be done by any other citizen of the country,if he does then he will be punished according to law.
@All Indian Trolls:
I “appreciate” the way Indian trolls are collectively trying to mislead rest of the world by hiding the most prejudiced face of Indian justice system. So, Sanjay Dutt found to be the only established gangster having assault rifle in Mumbai which is hatchery of the underworld dons possessing huge cache of arms of all kind!! Hard nut to crack you people are!!
In one way or the other, we all have our crosses / heavy bundles to bear!
This will happen to everyone who supports Muslims in India or is a Muslim in India. Muslims in India are no doubt second grade citizen. The country is and will always be govern by hard line and conservative hindus whether its congress or bjp...
@Hussain: no it is not! there's no place for criminals anywhere!
@Rana: Sanjay Dutt was mixing with gangsters, used to abuse drugs and had an assault weapon at home and also a cache of other weapons. It was not a defence weapon. Hope you understand the difference. Salman Khan also has to face the music. What you sow you reap! And your comment about being sympathetic to muslims is misplaced. When problems happen both Hindus and Muslims suffer.
@Rana: so u believe that it's prerogative of the indian muslims to blow bombs on their land?
@Rana: salman does also sympathise with indian muslims??
Adnan, I agree with you. We are looking at potential greatness. He could become a legend.
I love Sanjay Dutt. He is a nice person. But he made an unpardonable mistake. He should pay for his mistake and come out a stronger person.
Justice is not denied. Nobody is above the law. Another criminal of Bollywood Salman khan is awaiting his turn to join Dutt in jail,
@Gulam Rasool "Kuldeep sharma": I used to be Islam Muhammad.
He had gone so many phases in life .. from fame to drugs to fame again than jail than fame and now jail again. Three years later more fame will await him.
Bad luck for Munna Bhai who was a super brat two decades back, took drugs and broke law of the land for which he had to pay the price. Now that he is totally reformed and become a lovable character he has to go to jail as the law has to take its course. Salman Khan, who has a bigger fan following than Sanjay Dutt too is facing serious criminal charges and in one case was handed over five years jail sentence but got a stay from the High Court and this case likely to reopen soon. Nobody should doubt fairness of the Indian judiciary system which is above board so far, as caste, creed, religion or status of an individual are not taken into consideration while convicting the accused which many landmark judgements in high profile as well as normal cases have proved beyond doubt.
It a big lose for the industry. sad
@Rana: the first comment had to be a great conspiracy theory! No doubt our favorite national past-time, churning out conspiracy theories! this guy is loved by billions, Hindus and Muslims alike (his criminal act aside) and you say he is being targeted?!
Mr Sanjay Dutt is son of a very popular ruling Congress party leader ( now deceased ) and actor Sunil Dutt. Sanjay was found guilty of storing guns. Sanjay, who had connections with the Mumbai underworld leaders like Menon brothers has maintained that while he broke the law by storing guns that belonged to the perpetrators of mumbai attacks, he had no idea or knowledge of it and was doing so at the request of a friend. No one doubts the patriotism of Sanjay Dutt. However he broke the law and that's what he is punished for.
He is a celebrity so what? its a good decision by court. He was found guilty to have AK-47 which is illegal in india. Next to salman khan, he have done a lot of illegal things. No one is above than law.
Gulam Rasool"Kuldeep sharma" New Delhi
@PTIMardan - My instant response was similar to yours. However I read a blast survivor's tale and my sympathies for Mr. Dutt melted. The lady has had 40 surgeries to take off those metal and glass shards from her body, some of which are still inside her (20 years later)... for no fault of hers...
@Rana: What a twisted mind you have. Sanjay Dutt himself agreed in the court that he was carrying guns without valid license. There are tons of evidence to prove the point. Infact he is not contesting the Supreme Court sentence which itself says he is guilty.
this is a very perfect example of justice, hats off to india for having such a transparency in your judiciary, we as a pakistan nation should learn from india where no one is above or below the law though its almost same country but india is trying to improve their acts towards the betterment of their own country, which really needs to be appreciated
@PTIMardan: Why?
Hogaya na....Short Circuit!
Is it true he is connected with Lashkar-e-Toiba becasue I have such rumours.
Soooo bad
This is so bad
Sad.My sympathies with Mr Sanjay Dutt.
"Announcing the sentences, Supreme Court judge P. Sathashivam said the Memon brothers and another fugitive suspect who is said to be living in Pakistan “were archers and rest of the appellants were arrows in their hands”."
Instead, if you write "...the Memon brothers and Dawood Ibrahim living at Defence colony, Karachi...”, will you have trouble from ISI, ET?
Lage Raho Munna Bhai :-)
Indians give out exemplary punishments so the crime is curbed. No ordnary person dares to do anything that brought trouble for celebrity. That is why they have better law and order. But only if one celebrity is convicted and punished for rape.... many victims can be saved.
Hats Off Indian Justice system, i haven't seen any punishment by Pakistani court to any terrorist in the last 5 7 years.
He deserves it.
Salman Khan is next to follow! Khalnayak is being targeted due to his sympathies for Indian Muslims!!