The 1993 Bombay blast trial has finally come to an end, at least for now. The biggest news from it is that 12 people have been awarded the death sentence and Sanjay Dutt has been sentenced to 6 years in jail under the Arms act for possessing an AK-56. The quantum of punishment under the Arms act is between 5 and 10 years. He got 6. Harsh, really?
A rich, famous and powerful person has been convicted and sentenced. It doesn’t happen too often in our justice system. Maybe the Dutts never tried to manipulate the system. But some of the arguments against the verdict have been quite irrational to say the least.
We are a nation of strange people. We always seem to lament that our justice system does not punish the high and mighty, but when it does, we cry foul and call the sentence too harsh! Mr Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, our very own control freak, calls Dutt’s crime unintentional. I’m sorry, an AK-56? Unlicensed! Obtained from friends of the underworld. I don’t think it was unintentional at all.
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