INDIA: Sanjay Dutt files review petition in Supreme Court against conviction

Swati Deshpande, TNN.

Actor Sanjay Dutt, who recently won a month's extension to surrender, has now moved the Supreme Court (SC) by way of a review petition against its March 21 judgement upholding his conviction under the Arms Act and sentencing him to five years in jail.

A Delhi-based legal team prepared and filed the petition on Friday. It may be heard next week before the same bench. The SC had not interfered with the TADA court's guilty verdict against Dutt for possession of arms before the March 12, 1993, Mumbai serial blasts. He was held guilty only under the Arms Act for possessing an automatic rifle in a notified area, but was acquitted under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, which had also been invoked against him.

The trial court had specifically said the actor was not a terrorist and accepted his confessional statement that he had kept the sophisticated AK-56 rifle for self defence because of the communal tensions in the city that year.

His contention in the SC was that a confession made under Tada cannot form main evidence for offences under other Acts against an accused, when the accused is acquitted under Tada. His contention in the review petition is that the three-judge bench judgment in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, which held a confession under Tada would be valid even elsewhere and which the SC had relied on in the 1993 blasts case against Dutt, must be reconsidered.

The petition filed to review a binding decision of the SC is based on an apparent error in a judgment sought to be reviewed. A strong case has to be made to get a review, but if the plea is dismissed, a curative petition can be filed to ensure that there is no gross miscarriage of justice.

A review petition has to be filed within 30 days of the date of judgement or order. One of his lawyers said the matter would be heard next week. The SC had, while giving him a four-week extension to surrender, made it clear that it would grant no further time. Dutt has seven films on the floor in various stages of completion.

The Road Ahead

If a review petition is rejected, Sanjay Dutt has to surrender by May 18 unless the SC grants further time

He may also file a mercy plea with the President

Review petition

A binding decision of the Supreme Court/High Court can be reviewed in a review petition. The parties aggrieved by any order of the Supreme Court on any apparent error can file a review petition. Such a petition needs to be filed within 30 days from the date of judgment or order. The petition should be circulated without oral arguments to the same bench of judges that delivered the judgment (or order) sought to be reviewed. Courts generally do not unsettle a decision, without a strong case.

What is a curative petition

The concept of curative petition was evolved in 2002 by a SC judgment to cure any defects that may lead to gross miscarriage of justice in a final judgement/order of the Supreme Court, after dismissal of a review petition.

The petitioner has to aver specifically that the grounds mentioned had been taken in the review petition filed earlier and that it was dismissed by circulation. This has to be certified by a senior advocate.

The curative petition is then circulated to the three senior-most judges, and judges who delivered the judgment, if available. There is no time limit for filing a curative petition.

Source: Times of India (21/04/2013): http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sanjay-Dutt-files-review-petition-in-SC-against-conviction/articleshow/19655687.cms