Sanjay Dutt leaves a special court trying the cases of those accused in the 1993 Mumbai bombings in Mumbai, India.– AP (File) Photo

While his family and close friends may still nurture hope for pardon for him, Sanjay Dutt's conviction implies he will never be able to visit his daughter Trishala in the US. Laws in the US make it mandatory that no person convicted can obtain a visa to visit the country, according to reports in TOI.

A source close to Dutt revealed the actor's passport has been cancelled for the past five years. "Every time he had to travel abroad for outdoor locations, he would undergo a hearing before being handed a visa, that too for countries other than the US and Canada," the source said, adding: "He doesn't have a passport but there was always hope he could obtain a visa to visit the US. But with the Supreme Court sentence, it will be practically impossible for him to get a visa to the US, even if he is pardoned and doesn't go to prison. This conviction also means he cannot visit 90 per cent of the countries that he could till now."

This is yet another setback for the actor, who is going through a major crisis in life at this point in time. His near and dear ones though hope he may be able to hold a passport, after a few years of serving his sentence, or being pardoned, as the case may be.

Meanwhile, there seems to be a glimmer of hope as far as Dutt's professional life is concerned. His production company's second film, Hasmukh Pighal Gaya, to be directed by Sejal Shah (directorial debut), will go on floors in the second week of April, irrespective of whether he goes behind bars or is pardoned . Reportedly, Maanyata will oversee the production of the film that has been penned by the writers of Akshay Kumar's Oh My God - Bhavesh and Umesh.

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