Court admits Sanjay Dutt’s plea for probation officer’s report
A special court on the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings Friday directed the prosecution to file a reply on Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt’s application for a special report on his good conduct and character on Feb 28.
Dutt, convicted for illegal possession of arms, is seeking leniency in sentence.
The special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court Friday accepted a formal application from the 48-year-old actor who is seeking leniency under the Probation of Offenders Act (POA).
Special TADA judge Pramod Kode directed the prosecution to file a reply on a plea moved by the actor’s counsel Satish Manshinde to call for a probation officer’s (PO) report while considering Dutt’s application for probation.
The Probation of Offenders Act (POA) allows the court to release a person guilty of lesser offence if satisfied that his conduct has been good and he has reformed.
Dutt, who faces a jail term of 10 years for possession of illegal weapons, has sought to be let off on probation instead of serving a jail term for his conviction under the stringent Arms Act in the 1993 serial bombings case.
Meanwhile, in a related case, the special court directed the commissioner of Mumbai police to file its confidential report on Feb 28 regarding a “perceived” threat on extradited mobster Abu Salem, who is supposed to be produced in a local court in New Delhi in response to a production warrant issued against him in an extortion case there.
“Abu Salem suffers from spinal cord injury and will not be able to withstand a 24-hour train journey to Delhi. This apart, travelling in a general compartment poses a threat to his life,” said Salem’s lawyer Ashok Sarogi while moving the application on behalf the mobster.
“Taking both the threat perception and health grounds, the court should allow Abu Salem to travel by air to Delhi. The accused is ready to bear all the expenses, including his and that of his police escorts. And any one lawyer be also allowed to accompany the accused,” Sarogi told the court.
Recording the application, Judge Kode turned down the objection of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s counsel and special public prosecutor Ujjal Nikam that the accused was not at liberty to arrange for his own travel, and directed the Mumbai police commissioner to file its confidential report on any threat perception on Salem’s life.
“I cannot take any chances with any threat perception on the accused’s life. Let the Mumbai police commissioner submit its confidential report on Feb 28, then I will decide on the matter,” Kode said.
In another development, as the court was adjourned for the afternoon break, seven of the other 100 convicted accused wanted to submit petitions seeking leniency similar to that of Dutt. While the accused tried desperately to catch Judge Kode’s attention for submitting their petition, the judge adjourned the court.
After the court resumed in the afternoon, Judge Kode asked journalists present in the courtroom to leave without giving any reasons.
Sources said that Judge Kode might have taken exception to the accused interacting with the media persons present in the court regarding their applications.
— IANS
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