Mumbai: The long, agonising wait for actor Sanjay Dutt, who is facing multiple charges in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, seems to be coming to an end.

On Monday, the designated TADA court acquitted Ajay Marwa, a close friend of Dutt, on benefit of doubt and asked Dutt to be present in the court on Tuesday.

Other than Sanjay, 46, the court also summoned seven others - Zebunisa Kazi, Yusuf Nallwalla, Samir Hingora, Ibrahim Musa Chouhan, Rusi Mulla, Kersi Adajenia and former Additional Collector of Customs Somnath Thapa.

Bar Thapa, the cases of others named are linked with that of Sanjay, who is alleged to have acquired a weapon, which he later destroyed.

Upon giving benefit of doubt to Marwa, the court acquitted him saying that he had not "personally taken delivery of a 9 mm pistol given to him by Sanjay's friend Russi Mulla to keep it until co-accused Kersi Adjenia takes it back to his brother".

Marwah had been charged with destroying the rifle and pistol that was allegedly in Dutt's possession. Marwah told the court that accused, Rusi Mulla, had delivered a box to his brother asking him to keep it until co-accused Kersi Adajenia collected it.

According to the prosecution, Sanjay had asked his friend Yusuf Nallwalla to destroy AK-56 rifle and 9 mm pistol that were lying in a bag in the actor's house. It is alleged that Nallwalla took the bag and went to Adajenia's workshop, melted AK-56 rifle with a gas cutter and threw the remaining portions into the sea.

According to the confessions made by the accused, the pistol was not destroyed and was allegedly given by Adajenia to Rusi Mulla who in turn kept it with Marwah.

On Monday, the court held Gangster Abu Salem's aide guilty of carrying weapons from the actor's home to the house of a co-accused.

After a long, drawn out trial, which began back in January 1994, the TADA court has now been pronouncing verdicts since September 12, 2006.

Thus far, it has found 86 of the 123 accused on trial guilty. Twenty-three of the accused have been acquitted or given benefit of doubt, while the court is yet to pronounce its verdict on 14 accused.

The March 12, 1993, serial blasts killed 257 people injured hundreds of others and destroyed properties worth Rs 300 million.