New Delhi: The Supreme Court will deliver on Thursday its verdict on actor Sanjay Dutt's appeal for acquittal in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case.
Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to six years imprisonment under the Arms Act by a TADA court in Mumbai in 2007 for illegally procuring arms from underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's brother Anees.
On July 31, 2007, Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to six years rigorous imprisonment for illegally possessing weapons. At the same time, Dutt was also “cleared of terrorism conspiracy charges in the blasts” related to the 1993 bombings.
Dutt was then immediately taken into custody and sent to Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail. As the sentence was pronounced, Dutt was “visibly shocked and was seen shivering and holding back tears”.
Two days later, Sanjay Dutt was moved from Arthur Road jail in Mumbai to the Yerwada Central Jail in Pune. On August 7 the same year, Sanjay Dutt appealed against the sentence.
On August 20, 2007, the Supreme Court granted Dutt interim bail and was released from Yerwada Central Jail three days later.
On October 22, 2007, Dutt was back in jail but again applied for bail. On November 27, he was granted bail by the Supreme Court with his plea for a acquittal pending before the apex court.
Let's rewind to what happened in 1993 soon after the Mumbai serial blasts that was carried out by Dawood Ibrahim, his gang and some of his family members.
On March 12, 1993, Mumbai was rocked by 12 bomb blasts between 1:33 pm to 3:40 pm which killed around 257 people and injured another 713. Property worth Rs. 27 crore was damaged in the blasts.
The TADA court awarded death to 11 people and life sentences to 22. Others were given sentence ranging from 10 years to 3 years and fines uptoRs. 1 lakh.
Sanjay Dutt was convicted in July 2007 for the illegal possession of a 9 mm pistol and an AK-56 rifle but was acquitted of more serious charges under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) and was sentenced to six years. He had spent 16 months in jail after his arrest in 1993.
In April 1993, Magnum video owner Sameer Hingora and Hanif Kadawala were arrested a month after the serial blasts. They told police about Sanjay Dutt possessing AK-56 rifles.
On April 15, 1993, CBI filed a chargesheet against Sanjay Dutt saying that Salem was brought to Dutt's residence accompanied by Magnum video owner Sameer Hingora and motor-training school owner Ibrahim Musa on instructions of Anees Ibrahim to deliver weapons. Next morning weapons arrived and Dutt allegedly kept three AK-56 rifles.
Later, he kept only one rifle and returned two rifles.
Dutt confessed to the police that while he was in Mauritius for shooting he called Yusuf Nullwalla to destroy the weapons. Yusuf did so with the help of Kersi Adajania in his foundry.
On April 19, 1993, on his return from Mauritius, police took Dutt into custody for the seizure of illegal arms. Three days later, Dutt admitted to the charges in his confession, but later retracted his statement. On May 3, 1993, Dutt was released on bail.
On July 4, 1994, Sanjay Dutt's bail was cancelled and he was re-arrested. After spending nearly 16 months in jail, Dutt again got bail on October 16, 1995.
In 2002, Mumbai police tapped Dutt's conversation with gangster Chhota Shakeel. The conversation had references to the actor having bought a T-shirt for him from Dubai.
On March 7, 2003, Dutt told the court that he did not know Pakistan-based gangster Chhota Shakeel.
OnNov. 28, 2006, Dutt is found guilty under Arms Act but was acquitted in all cases related to TADA.
On February 13, 2007, the special branch of Mumbai police arrested Abdul Qayyum Abdul Karim Shaikh, a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim for his role in serial blasts.
Qayuum had been named by Sanjay Dutt in his confessional statement. Sanjay had said that he met Qayuum in Dubai in September 1992 and bought a pistol from him.
According to CBI, the pistol was sold to Sanjay at the instance of Dawood's brother Anees Ibrahim.
