Here's why Sanjay Dutt is in jail

Sanjay Dutt was arrested in April 1993 under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention Act) TADA, for illegally possessing a 9 mm pistol and an AK 56 assault rifle. Dutt’s was the most high profile arrest post the 1992-93 riots and the March 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai. It was alleged that Dutt knew about the blasts that took place after he bought weapons. But the court discounted the charges and while pronouncing him guilty in 2007, TADA special court judge PN Kode told the actor he was not a terrorist.

The actor's father Sunil Dutt, who was also a prominent Congress MP, sought Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray’s support to get bail for him. Thackeray, who had once taken Dutt to task, later hailed him as Ugavta Surya (rising sun). Sunil Dutt left no stone unturned to ensure his son, who was kept in Thane jail first and later shifted to Arthur Road jail, was released on bail.

Dutt’s arrest, his trial, his subsequent conviction under a less punishing Arms Act instead of TADA, subsequent furlough and parole have been under media as well as public scrutiny. There were two very clear groups amongst legal luminaries who held diagonally opposite views on Dutt and his involvement in the case. While Dutt’s supporters claimed his arrest was political (Sunil Dutt was said to be closer to Murli Deora in Mumbai Congress and therefore opposed to Sharad Pawar who was a powerful Maharashtra politician), Dutt’s detractors pointed he had illegally obtained lethal weapons from gangsters who were also involved and later charged in blasts that killed more than 250 persons. Dutt was sentenced to five years in prison. And the clamour for more years and pardon went up simultaneously. Former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju​ went on to say he should be pardoned and argued that Sanjay’s parents had done a lot of good deeds. But the Supreme Court ruled that Dutt must fulfill the term awarded to him by the trial court and observed that the charges were serious.