On Tuesday, Sanjay Dutt’s lawyers filed the plea in the Supreme Court challenging his conviction in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case by the special TADA court in Mumbai. Sanjay Dutt also another appeal to grant bail in this case.

Sanjay Dutt has argued in the application filed in apex court that Special Judge P D Kode ‘went astray’ when awarded 6-year RI to Sanjay without any credible evidence and the prosecution failed to discharge the burden upon it to prove the charges against Dutt.

Sanjay’s lawyers filed the petition based on the nine grounds and urged the apex court that Tada court Judge committed blunder by convicting the petitioner on the basis of a taken back statement. This has been said to the court that the alleged confession was made to a police officer after many days in custody.

The appeal said:

This is respectfully submitted that in a catena of decision by the apex court, it is authoritatively held that a retracted confession is a weak piece of evidence.

The Tada judge relied upon retracted statement of the petitioner to create the basis of the conviction and sentence awarded to the accused.

The plea said that it’s significant to note that police recovered no arm or ammunition from the possession of Dutt and from his residence or at his instance.

However, the case of the prosecution was that Dutt was in possession of one AK-56 from January 16 to April 12, 1993. A 9 mm pistol was also in his possession from September 1992.

The appeal questioned another point that without providing the copy of the judgment to the convicts, the judge should not pronounce the sentence. This was the absolute violation of CrPC and is also the violation of Article 21 of the Constitution.

The plea said that the Special Judge should have adjourned the sentence till the judgment was ready. Further, the appeal also said that the petitioner has obeyed each and every order of the court.

On the other hand, Dutt’s sister and Congress MP Priya Dutt has issued a press statement to the supporters for extending her thanks on behalf of Dutt for their support.

The text of the statement is as-

I on behalf of the Dutt family would like to thank all the people who have shown their overwhelming support for our brother Sanjay. It has come as a great pillar of strength in this hour of need.

Priya Dutt

The Supreme Court is likely to hear the petition on Friday. Earlier, some of Dutt’s supporters started making online petitions against Dutt’s conviction. Priya Dutt’s statement, released on Tuesday, will be a lesson for them not to show over-enthusiasm in this matter as the case has been gone in the apex court.

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