By IANS
Mumbai : Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt was Tuesday handed six years 'rigorous imprisonment for illegal possession of weapons, including an AK-56 rifle, in the 1993 Mumbai terror bombings and was to be taken into custody.
Special judge of the anti-terror TADA court P.D. Kode disregarded the actor's plea for leniency under the Probation of Offenders Act (PoA) for good behaviour through the last 14 years of the trial and refused to extend his bail.
Dutt, 48, who has already served jail for 16 months, had been convicted under the Arms Act for possessing a 9 mm pistol and an AK-56 rifle but absolved of terror charges.
Kode said being in possession of the weapons was an "imminent dangerous act".
"If you want to protect your family you can take a lawful step but an unlawful step for the purpose cannot be considered noble," Kode said, responding to Dutt's plea that the weapons were for self-defence and to protect his family.
"He not only committed a crime himself but also made others commit a crime by asking them to destroy the weapon," the judge said as Dutt sat in a corner of the crowded courtroom with his head bowed.
His lawyers said they would appeal the decision in the Supreme Court, if possible Tuesday itself.
The serial blasts in March 1993 killed 257 people and was considered one of the world's worst terror acts.
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