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Bollywood star actor Sanjay Dutt, awaiting sentence after being
convicted for his role in the 1993 Mumbai terror bombings, was
Saturday asked by a special anti-terrorism court to appear before
it July 27.
The special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act
(TADA) Court having already sentenced 87 of the 100 convicts and it
will now take up the sentencing of the remaining bomb planters, the
four members of the the family of absconding prime accused Tiger
Memon as well as Dutt and three others who are convicted under the
Arms Act.
Asking Dutt to be present in the court on July 27, Special TADA
Judge Pramod Kode said he would take up the sentencing of the
remaining bomb planters and the four members of the Memon family
before that.
"We will continue the sentencing of the Mahim Causeway group (of
those who planted explosives in that suburb) on Tuesday and then
take up the sentencing of the remaining convicts," he said.
Dutt, convicted under the Arms Act, has pleaded for relief under
the Probation of Offenders Act.
It has been a long wait for him waiting for the court to decide on
his leniency application ever since the 48-year-old actor was
convicted in November 2006 for possessing illegal arms even as the
court has absolved him of the more serious charge of terror
conspiracy.
The actor, whose popularity soared to new highs last year with
super-hit "Lage Raho Munnabhai", has been held guilty under Section
3 and 7 of the Arms Act for illegal possessing of a pistol and an
AK-56 rifle.
If his probation petition is rejected, Dutt faces at least five
years in jail. He had earlier spent 18 moths behind bars after his
arrest in 1993.
"Now with just the sentencing of the last planter and the Memon
family left, it is most likely that actor Sanjay Dutt's fate will
be decided next week," special public prosecutor Ujjal Nikam told
IANS.
The others charged under the Arms Act along with Dutt are Rusi
Mulla, Kersi Adajania and Yusuf Nallawala.
The special judge said that he would require to hear the arguments
of both the prosecution and defence and then prepare the reasoning
of the order on the their leniency plea and it would take a couple
of days.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which probed the
bombings, in its charge-sheet said that the terror attacks were
masterminded by India's most-wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim,
silver smuggler Tiger Memon and his close associate Mohammed Dossa.
All three have been declared absconders by the court.
On the afternoon of March 12, 1993, a series of 13 explosions
ripped through Mumbai's landmarks, spreading terror and
destruction over a two-hour period, killing 257 people and
grievously injuring 713. Property worth Rs.300 million was damaged.
Indo-Asian News Service
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