Sanjay Dutt's bail hearing put off to Wed

The hearing on the bail plea of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt in the 1993 serial blasts case was postponed to Wednesday by a special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) court in Mumbai. 

Dutt, convicted under the Arms Act in the case, has applied for relief under the Probation of Offenders Act. His lawyer V R Manohar on Monday completed arguments on the applicability of the act in the Bollywood star's case.

TADA Court Judge P D Kode also extended the time granted to convicts Kersi Adajania, Yusuf Nallwalla, Rusi Mulla and Somnath Thapa to surrender. Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam will make his arguments against Dutt's plea on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, the actor had to face protests by the families of the other accused in the case as he arrived at the court on Tuesday morning.

The police detained over 20 people for staging the demonstration.

When Dutt, convicted under the Arms Act for illegally possessing an AK-56 rifle and a 9mm pistol, arrived at the TADA court at 10:55 am, a group of about 50 relatives of convicts shouted slogans against what they termed the preferential treatment being received by the actor and demanded that all convicts be treated alike.

"It seems as if there is one law for poor Muslims and one for Sanjay Dutt. While others who have been accused of the same charges as him have been booked under TADA, he has been booked under the Arms Act," says Amreesh Mishra, general secretary, Jan Morcha, Mumbai.

He also added that while Dutt has been granted bail repeatedly, others have been in jail.

Shahana Sheikh, whose brother Atif Sheikh Yusuf has been charged under TADA, was part of the protest in the morning and was arrested.

"I was forced to take off my burkha by the police," she told this correspondent.

In tears, she added, "My brother has three children and has not been granted bail. Sanjay Dutt has one child and he is given bail repeatedly. Is that fair?"

Assistant Commissioner of Police J M Jadhav told PTI, "Over 20 persons have been detained for staging protests outside the court premises."

Dutt, facing imprisonment ranging between five and 10 years, is seeking exemption from a jail term under the Probation of Offenders Act.

The actor has had his bail extended three times by the court since being convicted on Novemeber 28 last year.

The court received a 16-page intervening application, the contents of which were not revealed, but Judge P D Kode set it aside for arguments at a later stage.

With PTI inputs