The Supreme Court yesterday upheld actor Sanjay Dutt’s conviction in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case under the Arms Act and sentenced him to five years in jail, concluding that “No foul play can be assumed in view of the fact that the events happened in quick succession, one after the other, lending credibility and truthfulness to the whole episode.”

The court, explaining why the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act (TADA) was not applied against Dutt, held that mere possession of a weapon did not amount to an offence under that Act. The judgement says that the sequence of events and the arrest of Dutt formed part of an ‘unbroken chain inseparably connected.’