NEW DELHI: In a reprieve for Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt lodged in a Pune jail for over a month, the Supreme Court has granted him bail in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
Besides Dutt, who has been sentenced to six years imprisonment by a TADA court in Mumbai, 16 other convicts were also granted bail. Customs officer Somnath Thapa, who has been given a life term, was granted bail on medical ground as he is suffering from cancer. However, in the case of other life convicts, a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said it was not inclined to consider their bail plea at this stage.
The court adopted a common parameter that those convicts who have already undergone half the period of sentence awarded by the trial court, were eligible for bail. It said all those who have been granted bail have to furnish a bond subject to the satisfaction of the Special TADA court and their passports would remain deposited.
Those granted bail have to report to the Special Task Force of CBI, Mumbai once in a month, the court said. It also asked its Registrar to intimate the order of bail to the Special TADA judge Mumbai by email. Expressing relief over the court's order, the actor's sister and Congress MP Priya Dutt told reporters in Mumbai that "We are happy that he would come here soon." "We hope for a better tomorrow and want to thank all who have supported us to overcome the situation," she added.
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