Bollywood Star Sanjay Dutt did attend a dinner hosted by Dawood Ibrahim hosted before 1993 Mumbai blast. This was revealed during the Case proceedings in Supreme Court where Dutt accepted having attended the Dinner but denied any relationship or contact with him post Mumbai Blasts.
“I have only attended a dinner at Dawood’s house along with two film producers which was before the blast. Other than that I do not have any relationship,” senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for the star, told a bench of Justice P Sathasivam and Justice BS Chauhan hearing the appeal against his conviction and 6 years imprisonment.
Salve made the submission in response to queries from the bench as to whether Dutt had attended a party hosted by Dawood as stated in his alleged confessional statement.
To queries from the bench, the counsel asserted that Dutt had no relationship either with Dawood or the other alleged main conspirator Tiger Memon.
“I have no relationship with Tiger Memon. I have no friendship with Dawood Ibrahim,” he said.
The bench asked him, “Do you mean to say your relationship with Dawood Ibrahim is only in relationship to the shooting of the movie,” to which the counsel answered in the affirmative.
The apex court had on November 1, 2011 commenced final hearing on a bunch of appeals filed by convicts as well as CBI in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case in which 12 persons were awarded death penalty and 78 others sentenced to varying terms ranging from three years to life imprisonment.
The CBI, however, has chosen not to appeal against Dutt who was acquitted of the charge of conspiracy in the blasts under the dreaded TADA, but was awarded six years imprisonment by a designated court for being in illegal possession of arms under the Arms Act.