Sanjay Dutt in trouble again, will he go back to prison ?

sanjay dutt

Days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) argued that Sanjay Dutt's six years sentence and conviction for illegal possession of arms in the 1993 bomb blasts case was justified, the actor's counsel, Harish Salve, will be back in court to rejoin on law points why the conviction ought not to even be upheld.
Dutt's advocate in the apex court, Hari Shankar, had taken permission from the Supreme Court to allow senior counsel Salve to argue next Tuesday briefly in response to CBI submissions. Salve, who was abroad on the last date of hearing, is expected to point out why a confession made under the anti-terror law cannot be used to hold the actor guilty of "unrelated" offences.
The SC is hearing all appeals filed by those convicted in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case. Dutt had appealed against his conviction under the Arms Act. On November 28, 2006, he was acquitted of charges under the stringent Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) and termed "not a terrorist" by special trial judge P D Kode. But he was held guilty under the Arms Act for possessing an assault weapon, AK-56, and a pistol in a notified area. The charge against him was of possessing and destroying the sophisticated weapon. The punishment prescribed for the offence is imprisonment for a minimum of 5 years to 10 years. The CBI had demanded the maximum. The judge gave him six years' jail, an additional year than the minimum sentence.
Judge Kode had accepted and relied on Dutt's own confession to hold him guilty under the Arms Act and to acquit him under TADA. It was for "self-defense", the judge had held while accepting there was evidence of recovery. Dutt's appeal, however, said there was absolutely no evidence to pin him down since his confession was forced, not voluntary. He said it was, thus, not admissible and no other evidence remained against him. Besides, Salve said that a confession under one serious Act cannot be used as evidence to penalize him for a lesser offence under another statute. "Once acquitted under TADA, the same confession can't be used to convict him under the Arms Act."
The CBI, which opposed Dutt's appeal but filed none of its own against the acquittal, said the evidence need not be relatable. It said once a confession is made, it could be used to prove guilt for other charges even if it did not yield a conviction under TADA.
It is likely that the judgment would be reserved once the hearing is complete on Tuesday. If the SC rejects Dutt's appeal and upholds the six-year jail term, he would have to go back to jail and serve his term. In 2007, the SC had suspended Dutt's sentence and released him on bail, allowing him to shoot for his films and even travel abroad with permission as and when needed.
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