A three-judge bench headed by the Chief Justice agreed and said that "the nature of the offence and the evidence is very difficult to examine at this stage", and granted bail to Dutt until the lawyers get a copy of the verdict.

An official at the Mumbai court said it could start delivering copies of the sentencing of the 100 people convicted in the case from September. Dutt was among the last of the 100 to be sentenced.

Dutt`s appeal said his conviction by a special anti-terrorism court in Mumbai was based on his confession that he had later retracted.

"A retracted confession is a weak piece of evidence," the petition said, arguing that the conviction should also be overturned because no arms or ammunition were ever recovered from Dutt or his home. 

The petition, which said Dutt should be granted bail because he was "not likely to commit any offence while on bail", urged the court to award him some form of punishment other than jail.

Meanwhile Dutt’s advocate Mukul Rohatgi while addressing the media praised the attitude of the CBI and called it very fair. He also said that the Supreme Court has given conditional bail to all and that the convicts will have to report to