Sanjay Dutt sentencing deferred

Court drama grips Mumbai In pictures: Sanjay Dutt Profile: Bollywood's bad boy

An Indian court has deferred sentencing a Bollywood star who was found guilty of buying weapons from bombers who attacked Mumbai (Bombay) in 1993.

Sanjay Dutt was cleared of conspiracy in the bombings which killed 257 people, but found guilty of illegally possessing a rifle and a pistol.

The offences carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Dutt's lawyers have argued that the 47-year-old actor should be freed for his good behaviour while on bail.

He has been on bail since 1995 after spending 18 months in prison during the initial investigations into the bombings.

Gangster roles

Dutt was asked by the judge to appear in court on Friday.

However, the actor's lawyer asked the court in Mumbai to allow Dutt to leave early as it was his the anniversary of his father's death.

The judge agreed and allowed him to go. A new date for his sentencing has yet to be set.

Dutt is the most high-profile of 100 people, most of them Muslims, who were found guilty in the bombings trial, which ended last year.

The attacks were allegedly ordered by Mumbai's Muslim-dominated underworld in retaliation for riots a few months earlier that left more than 2,000 people dead, most of them Muslim.

Police were accused of letting Hindu gangs target Muslims.

Dutt found fame playing gangsters and anti-heroes.

In anticipation of the sentence, he has stopped accepting new Bollywood projects, and completed filming on all outstanding projects.