Actor Sanjay Dutt, who has to undergo three-and-a-half years in jail in the Mumbai serial blasts case, today said he believed in the judiciary and would explore his legal options after going through the Supreme Court verdict.
“I still believe in the judiciary. My family is with me and I am still strong,” he said in his first reaction to the judgement upholding his conviction in the 1993 case.
53-year-old Dutt, who remained confined in his 10th floor flat at ‘Imperial Heights’ at Pali Hill in suburban Bandra, said in an SMS to the media he would explore legal options available after going through the verdict.
Earlier, his lawyer Satish Maneshinde had said he had accepted the punishment handed down by the apex court “as it is”.
Maneshinde, who represented Dutt at the trial in the blasts case in the TADA court, said he had spoken to the actor who will have to undergo three-and-a-half more years in jail.
“Sanjay Dutt told me I have accepted the judgement as it is. I have accepted it,” Maneshinde said quoting the actor.
The lawyer said though they will pursue the legal course available, “I am not sure what relief he can claim”.
“But Sanjay Dutt will abide by the apex court’s order of undergoing the sentence of three-and-a-half years in letter and spirit. Three-and-a-half-years is not a long period,” he said.
“We have prepared him (for sentence) from the very beginning. Sanjay Dutt is a strong man and will fight for himself,” Maneshinde said.
Eminent criminal lawyer Majid Memon, who defended many of the accused in the case, said there was only a “narrow” window open for the actor to seek relief after the Supreme Court judgement.
“He has only a narrow window of approaching a larger bench or file a review petition but in that case also, I am afraid that unless stay is granted on today’s order, he will have to walk into the prison,” Memon told presspersons here.