Sanjay Dutt gets 5 yrs,Yakub Memon death

A bench of Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan also confirmed the death penalty for Yakub Memon,a chartered accountant and brother of one of the key fugitives,Tiger Memon. The court said his “commanding position and the crime of utmost gravity” warranted capital punishment.

It,however,adopted a lenient view for 10 other convicts on death row for planting the bombs across Mumbai,and reduced their punishment to life term. It said that while Yakub and the other fugitives,including Tiger Memon,Dawood Ibrahim and Anees Ibrahim,were the “archers,” these “subservient minions” were the “arrows in their hands” and “their participation in the massacres resulted from misguided notions rather than extremism.”

The court also awarded life term to 22 other convicts under terror charges in its judgment delivered in six parts and running into 2,198 pages.

In its verdict on Dutt,the bench reduced his jail term from six years — given by a TADA court in 2006 — to five years,which is the minimum punishment under the convicting provision in the Arms Act,but rejected his plea to either acquit him or grant him the benefit of probation.

Son of Bollywood couple Sunil Dutt and Nargis,Dutt was acquitted of terror charges by the TADA court but held guilty under the Arms Act for illegal possession of a AK-56 rifle and a 9-mm pistol,which were part of the consignment of weapons and explosives brought to India for the coordinated serial blasts that killed 257 people and maimed over 700.

Dutt had initially confessed to receiving the weapons and his subsequent attempts to get them destroyed after some co-accused known to him were arrested in connection with the blasts. He,however,retracted his confession in November 1994. While challenging the conviction before the apex court,he contended that his admission of guilt could not be relied upon anymore.

The bench,however,rejected his argument,underlining his retraction was an “afterthought” and that “confession in the present case was truthful and voluntary and has been recorded after strictly following the law and the prescribed procedure”. The court also corroborated his confession with similar statements and recovery of incriminating material from his co-accused.

Citing his clean antecedents,association with social work,agony of a prolonged trial and the tag of “terrorist”,and a new married life with two infant children,Dutt sought his release on probation of good conduct but the court did not find his case strong enough to exercise its power of discretionary relief.

After the verdict,Dutt’s lawyer Satish Maneshinde said that he has spoken to the actor who told him that he was strong enough to go through whatever the court has asked him to undergo.

“He has accepted the judgment. We will go through the verdict and then consider all the legal recourses available,” he added. The actor can file a review petition against the verdict.

Also deciding a bunch of appeals and cross-appeals filed by 100 convicts against conviction and by the Maharashtra government against 23 acquittals,the bench confirmed the death penalty for Yakub Memon.

Although he was not directly involved in planting the bombs,he stood behind from beginning until the end,that is conspiracy,planning,handling money transactions,monitoring activities and making all arrangements for sending people to Pakistan for training in handling arms and ammunition,the court said.

Besides commuting the death sentence of 10 other convicts,the court awarded life term to 22 other accused in the case under various provisions of TADA,IPC,Arms Act,Explosive Substances Act and Explosive Act,while sentencing still others for varying jail terms ranging from one year to 10 years.

The court also set aside the conviction of two accused while upholding 15 acquittals. Two convicts died during the pendency of the case.

In its verdict,the court held that the charge of criminal conspiracy was proved against all convicts with the aid of 77 confessional statements recorded as per the law,coupled with various evidence in their corroboration and valid recoveries. It also rejected a contention against the complete judgment not being provided on the day of sentencing by the TADA court,requiring the case to be relegated to the special court again to hear it afresh on the question of sentence.