Bollywood star seeks bail in deadly bombings case

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt (in blue) surrounded by policemen arrives at a special court in Mumbai, October 22, 2007. Dutt, jailed for six years for getting guns from gangsters involved in India's worst bombing, challenged his conviction in the Supreme Court on Thursday and sought bail.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, jailed for six years for getting guns from gangsters involved in India's worst bombing, challenged his conviction in the Supreme Court on Thursday and sought bail.

The actor was convicted for taking an AK-56 rifle and a pistol from gangsters linked to the bombings in which 257 people were killed in the financial capital, Mumbai, in 1993.

Dutt's appeal said his conviction by a special anti-terrorism court was based on a confession he later retracted. It said the confession was obtained under duress.

"For a confession to be accepted, it must be voluntary and free from any kind of pressure and coercion," Dutt's petition said.

The petition, which said the actor should be given bail because there was no chance of him fleeing, also urged that he be released on probation because he was a first-time offender whose actions had not harmed anyone.

A special Mumbai court sentenced Dutt in August. But he got bail from the Supreme Court after spending 24 days in jail until he was served a copy of the judgment so he could challenge it in the country's highest court.

Dutt, 48, was handed a copy of the more than 4,300-page judgment on Monday, after which he surrendered and was sent back to prison in the western Indian city of Pune.

The actor is now seeking to stay out of jail while the Supreme Court hears his petition challenging the verdict. An appeal in the court could take years to be heard.

Even the bail petition could take days to come up, but in India celebrity cases are sometimes expedited.

Dutt has said he acquired the weapons to protect his family during communal riots in 1993.