‘Dutt faces at least two and a half years in jail’

MUMBAI: Though Dutt was initially indicted under TADA and the Arms Act, evidence did not support the charge of terrorism. The evidence produced before the court could only sustain a conviction for possession of illegal arms and the prosecution could not extend it to connect those weapons with the cache smuggled into the city to unleash terror.

Dutt’s own confession was the strongest evidence against him. It remained on the court’s record for 15 months  without retraction. But  even that confession was  silent on any terror conspiracy or connection with alleged terrorists.

The only independent evidence against Dutt was some scraps of gun metal obtained from a furnace.

Dutt was, therefore, finally convicted of possessing illegal arms, an offence that is punishable by five years at the least. Also, the trial court cannot grant fresh bail after conviction if the offence is punishable by more than three years.

His lawyers can obtain fresh bail for him only through an appeal before the Supreme Court. The court normally takes two to three years to dispose of an appeal.

Finally, if Dutt’s conviction and sentence is upheld by the Supreme Court, he will serve a sentence of at least two and a half years after set-off and remission. To explain the concept of remission: for every four weeks that an accused spends in jail, he gets a week of remission. This means four weeks are counted as five. So, remission reduces a minimum sentence of five years to a served sentence of a little over four years.

The 16 months that Dutt spent in jail as an undertrial will be set off against his final sentence. He will, therefore, have to serve a further two and a half years at least. 

Keswani, noted criminal lawyer, spoke to Derineh Cooper & Mayura Janwalkar