Thursday, August 16, 2007

Sanjay Dutt: Deserved the RI or has paid enough?

By : Md Mudassir Alam

After 14-years of long wait Sanjay Dutt was punished under the Arms Act by the special TADA court. He was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for six years and fined Rs 25,000. But the question here is, is it a harsh sentence or did he deserve it?


AFTER A LONG wait of 14 years, finally TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act) court has given its verdict on 1993 Mumbai blast case. During this long-drawn trial 100 accused were held guilty, 12 sentenced to death and 20 to life. The cine star, Sanjay Dutt whose fate was decided on Tuesday was also waiting for the verdict. He was sentenced to six years’ rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 25,000 by the special court for illegal possession of an automatic AK-56 rifle in 1993.

Besides Sanjay Dutt, three of his close associates were also sentenced by the special court. Russi Mulla (64 yrs) was released under the Probation of Offenders Act (POA), while Kersi Adjania (77 yrs) was granted bail and Yusuf Nulwalla was sentenced to five-year rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 25,000 for possessing the illegal weapon and attempting to destroy the evidence.

According to prosecution case, in January 1993 Sanjay Dutt had acquired an AK- 56 from gangster Abu Salem. Sanjay was in close touch with Anees Ibrahim, brother of underworld Don Dawood Ibrahim, the mastermind behind the Mumbai serial bomb-blasts.

Now let us take a look what happened in the year 1993. A series of thirteen bomb blasts took place on the black day of March 12, 1993 in Bombay (now Mumbai). The series of bomb blasts are considered the most destructive bomb explosions in the history of India. In a single-day due to bomb blasts around 250 civilians lost their lives and more than 700 were injured. According to sources the attacks were coordinated by underworld Don Dawood Ibrahim in retaliation for the destruction of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya on 6th December1992. After the blasts when the police was investigating, Sanjay Dutt’s was also found involved. Meanwhile Sanjay Dutt went to Mauritius for shooting a film and he got to know about the arrest of his friends, Hanif Kadawala and Hingora. On his arrival from Mauritius, Sanjay Dutt was arrested on April 19, 1993 and subsequently spent 16 months behind the bars before getting bail.

As the court verdict came on Tuesday, Sanjay Dutt was totally shocked and begged for mercy. With folded hands Dutt went to the witness box and sought permission to speak something in the court. After getting the permission from the judge, Sanjay said, “Sir, I made a mistake 14 years ago. Please give me some time to surrender.” But the special TADA court judge rejected the actor’s emotional plea and told I have already given you much relaxation and you have to obey the judgment. Hours after sentencing Sanjay, Judge P.D. Kode told that the actor not to lose faith in himself as he was at number one position in the film industry and he liked the actor’s performance very much in Munnabhai MBBS. “In the film, your father looked much better than you,” added Justice Kode. Further the special TADA court Judge told the actor, “Act till you are 100, I have taken away only six years.” In an informal conversation with Sanjay, Judge Kode said that, “Don’t get perturbed for you have many years to go and work like ‘Mackenna’s Gold’ actor Gregory Peck.”

After meeting with his relatives Sanjay Dutt was taken into custody. Sanjay’s arrest was heartbreaking news for his relatives, film fraternity as well as for his fans. News channels also came up with the special stories about the actor and asked several senior lawyers about the possibilities of bail for the actors. Some lawyers said that Supreme Court can grant bail to the actor as charges are weak, while some said that getting bail could be tough.

We all know that after his release in 1994, Sanjay has proved himself as a good human being and countryman too. But the biggest hurdle in the actor’s way is his bitter past. Most importantly law is same for all so he was punished according to his crime. However, Sanjay’s lawyers will be approaching the Supreme Court for bail.

What will happen to him we don’t know, we can only pray for him and expect mercy from the Apex Court. Don’t worry Sanju, you are a brave man, just stand up and keep faith in the God. We are sure that you will get bail very soon.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Oh God !after hearin bout Dutt I was completely shaken as I dunno whether he deserved such harsh treatmnent or not!!!!!!!!
Agreed if it wud been some normal human being he wud ve deserved the same punishment!
Still i wonder its just his popularity or a real human being inside him that so many people are feelin sad about him...:-(
Sherry