Sanjay Dutt summoned by TADA court

New Delhi: Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt could be heading for trouble yet again as the TADA court has summoned him in the Mumbai blasts case.

The special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) court, that exempted actor and 1993 serial blasts accused Sanjay Dutt from appearance on Friday due to ill health, has asked him to appear on May 25.

His lawyer Farhana Shah told PTI the court would not necessarily decide on Dutt's application seeking relief under the Probation of Offenders Act (POA) on that day. "The court has merely asked him to be present on Friday," she said.

Besides Dutt, some other 1993 serial blasts convicts have sought relief under POA, which empowers a court to release a person who has been found guilty of a crime that is not punishable by a life or death sentence. Relief under POA is subject to a convict's conduct and fulfilling some conditions.

Judge Pramod Kode has asked for the probation officer's report with regard to some of the POA applications without specifying their names. The court has said it will decide on these pleas during sentencing that began on May 18.

Meanwhile, the court is expected to award sentences tomorrow to four police constables who were convicted for allowing passage of RDX and arms to Mumbai prior to the blasts, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said

With inputs from PTI