Supreme Court sentences Sanjay Dutt for five year in jail

The Supreme Court has sentenced Sanjay Dutt to five years in jail for acquiring guns from gangsters involved in the 1993 bombings in Mumbai. But since Dutt has already served a jail sentence of a year-and-a-half, he will have to spend three years eight months in confinement. The Court also said that the circumstances and nature of offence was so serious that Dutt cannot be released on probation. Earlier, Dutt was to serve a sentence of six years under an order of a special court in Mumbai. Then he was also fined Rs 25,000. Dutt was convicted in November 2006 for the illegal possession of a 9 mm pistol and an AK-56 rifle but was acquitted of more serious charges under the now defunct anti-terror TADA law. On 19 April 1993, Dutt was arrested under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) due to terrorist interactions and illegal weapons possession. He spent 16 months in jail until he was granted bail in October 1995 by the Supreme Court of India. He was later re-arrested in December 1995 and re-released in April 1997 once again on police bail terms. In 2006 the case opened for sentencing of all accused. The period between 2006 and 2007 saw Dutt spend 7 months in Arthur Road Prison and Pune prison on three occasions for arms offences although in 2006 Dutt was finally acquitted of any TADA-related offenses but was charged under the illegal possession of arms act. In March the same year, when framing murder charges against extradited Abu Salem and co-accused Riyaz Siddiqui in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case, the prosecution said that Salem delivered 9 AK-56 rifles and some hand grenades to Dutt at his Bandra house in the second week of January 1993. On 13 February 2007, the special branch of Mumbai police arrested Abdul Qayyum Abdul Karim Shaikh, a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim and wanted by Mumbai Police Special Task Force for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts from Mumbai. 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. On 31 July 2007, 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. On 2 August 2007, Sanjay Dutt was moved from Arthur Road jail in Mumbai to the Yerwada Central Jail in Pune. On the 7 of the same month, Dutt appealed against the sentence. On 20 August 2007, the Supreme Court of India granted Dutt interim bail. He was released after Yerwada Central Jail authorities received a copy of the court's bail order. The bail was valid until the time the special TADA court, which sentenced Dutt on 31 July, provides a copy of its judgment to him. Dutt was released from jail on 23 August. On 22 October 2007 Dutt again applied for bail when he was back in jail. And finally on 27 November 2007, Dutt was granted bail by the Supreme Court.