Sanjay gets six years RI, Bollywood shocked at news

Mumbai, July 31 (UNI) Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to six years rigorous imprisonment under the Arms Act by a designated TADA court today trying the 1993 serial blasts case, bringing the curtains down on one of the country's lengthiest judicial cases.

While announcing the sentence, Judge P D Kode said Dutt's case could not fall under the purview of the Probation of Ofenders Act, as the actor had repeatedly committed crime after crime and had met underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and his brother Anees during a film shoot.

The possession of an AK-56 rifle, which is a weapon of mass destruction, is a serious offence, the judge observed.

Soon after the sentence was awarded to him, an unshaven Dutt, 48, almost broke down. ''I made a mistake,'' he told the court at which the judge observed, ''Everybody makes a mistake.'' Dutt, who has nearly Rs 100 crore riding on him in the film industry, urged the court that he be granted time to surrender as he wanted to meet his daughter who is in the United States.

However, this request was strongly challenged by public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam and the court turned down the pleas of the actor and his friend Yusuf Nulwalla, observing that there is no provision under the law to suspend the sentence or to give a convict time after the trial court convicted him to undergo imprisonment for more than three years.

Judge Kode, however, permitted Dutt to make a phone call, through his Advocate Satish Maneshinde's cell phone, to his daughter Trishala in US.

After rejection of his request, the actor stepped into the witness box and moved another plea, seeking to lodge him and Nulwalla at Arthur Road prison. The plea was opposed by Mr Nikam on the grounds that the Arthur Road Jail is meant only for undertrials and since the actor had already been sentenced, he should therefore be sent to any other prison in the state.

Judge Kode, however, directed the Superintendent of Arthur Road Jail Swati Sathe to make a reply in this regard. He also directed the jail officials that both the convicts -- Dutt and Nulwalla -- should be kept at the Arthur Road Jail till the court decides on their pleas.

The court also directed the jail authorities to give them separate accommodation with all the basic amenities as permissible under the jail manual. The authorities should also take care of their security.

A fine of Rs 25,000 has been imposed on Dutt, in lieu of which he will face an additional six-month imprisonment.

The actor was arrested on April 19, 1993, for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. He spent 18 months in the jail and was, subsequently, released on bail.

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