India's Supreme Court released Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt on bail Monday, citing a technicality weeks after he was convicted for illegally possessing guns tied to 1993 bombings in Mumbai, his lawyer said.
Dutt received bail because the Mumbai court that convicted him had not yet provided him with a copy of his sentence, said his lawyer, Surender Singh. Five other people convicted in the same case were also granted bail on the same technicality.
All will have to return to prison once they are given copies of the sentence, Singh said.
Dutt was convicted in November and sentenced on July 31 to six years in prison for illegally possessing three automatic rifles and a pistol. He was acquitted of more serious terrorism charges relating to the bombings.
He is appealing the sentence in the Supreme Court. Dutt's case was part of the sprawling Mumbai bombings trial, which dragged on for 12 years and saw more than 100 people convicted, 686 witnesses and 13,000 pages of testimony. The series of bombings on March 12, 1993, killed 257 people. A dozen people were sentenced to death, while 20 others face life sentences. More than 50 others were sentenced to between three and 14 years in jail.
The loss of Dutt's work on two unfinished films could cost the film industry millions of dollars. It was unclear how Dutt's bail would affect the films' status.
