Sanjay Dutt to surrender at TADA court on Thursday

Actor Sanjay Dutt will surrender at TADA court in Mumbai on Thursday in the 1993 Bombay blasts case. Dutt has withdrawn his application to surrender at Yerwada Jail in Pune which he had filed on Tuesday. Dutt's lawyer informed the court that he wants to withdraw the application and he will surrender on Thursday.

Dutt had expressed fears of being chased by the media and that he faces threat from fundamentalists. Dutt on Tuesday told a special TADA court that he faced threat to his life from fundamentalist groups.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Tuesday heard a petition filed by a film producer, who sought time for Dutt to complete his under-production films.

Dutt was held guilty by the TADA court in 2007 under the Arms Act for possession of an automatic rifle, but he was acquitted under the stringent TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act), with the trial judge observing that he was not a 'terrorist'. The court accepted his confessional statement that he had procured the weapon for self-defence during the riots.

The Supreme Court, on March 21, 2013, had dismissed Dutt's appeal, but reduced the prison term to five years from six years. Dutt had been directed to surrender on April 18, but he sought more time in view his professional commitments.

He was granted another four weeks' time by the apex court on "humanitarian grounds". The Supreme Court had relied on this judgement while deciding the appeals filed by convicts of the 1993 blasts case. Dutt has served 18 months in prison during the trial, and has to undergo a jail term of three-and-a-half years.

Also read: SC rejects Dutt's review plea in 1993 Bombay blasts case