Sanjay Dutt's bail plea won't be heard on Friday

Actor Sanjay Dutt will have to wait for the Supreme Court to hear his bail plea. The apex court clarified on Thursday that it would not be hearing Dutt's plea on Friday.

Dutt was sentenced to six years imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

A bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan stated that the apex court had only listed the matter to be "mentioned" on Friday, after which a date would be formally fixed for the hearing.

The clarification came after senior counsel Fali S Nariman, appearing for Dutt, complained that the matter was not being listed for hearing on Friday despite a direction from the court.

However, the chief justice clarified that the apex court had only issued directions that the matter be listed for a formal "mentioning" on Friday, so that it could be placed before an appropriate bench for hearing.

Though the apex court listed the matter for a formal mentioning on Friday, it was widely construed that the application would be taken up for hearing on the same day.

As per the practice in the Supreme Court and high courts, a counsel can make an oral mention of a matter of perceived urgency for early hearing.

Ironically, on Thursday, another bench headed by Justice B N Aggrawal asserted that the apex court would not discriminate while dealing with the accused convicts in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

A three-member bench of Justices B N Aggrawal, Tarun Chatterjee and V S Sirpurkar made the assertion after counsel Mustaq Ahmed argued that Sanjay Dutt cannot be given any special treatment.

Ahmed informed the bench that his client Aziz Ahmed Mohammad Shaikh was the first accused to move the apex court. Shaikh was convicted under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act and sentenced to six years imprisonment. Hence, Shaikh should be given priority while dealing with the bail applications.

Ahmed said that Dutt's star status should not entitle him to any special treatment in the hearing of bail application.