Mumbai: Rejecting actor Sanjay Dutt’s emotional plea for time to surrender after he was given six-year rigorous imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case on Tuesday, justice P. D. Kode told the actor not to lose faith in himself as he was “number one” in films.
“Act till the age of 100, I have taken away only six years,” the special TADA court judge told Dutt hours after sentencing him for illegal possession of weapons. Noting that Dutt was “number 1 in the film line,” he said he liked the actor’s performance very much and advised him to have faith in himself.
After hearing his sentence earlier in the day, Dutt went to the witness box with folded hands and sought permission to speak in the court. “Sir, I made a mistake 14 years ago. Please give me some time to surrender,” said the actor, who turned 48 on Sunday.
When the court took up the plea later, he told the judge: “I am very tired, sir. I just need your blessings.”
“Be like Gregory Peck”
“Don’t get perturbed for you have many years to go and work like ‘Mackenna’s Gold’ actor Gregory Peck,” Mr. Justice Kode told him in an informal conversation that lasted 10 minutes.
In an apparent attempt to cheer up Dutt, the judge said he had seen the actor’s performance with Sunil Dutt in Munnabhai MBBS.
“In the film, your father looked much better than you.”
Sanjay Dutt conducted himself in a restrained manner throughout the proceedings.
He looked gaunt but he did not break down.
— PTI
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