Sanjay Dutt between home and jail as leave expires

Published January 9, 2015
Actor Sanjay Dutt with wife Manyata and daughter before leaving for Yerawada Jail after the end of his two weeks' furlough by the state prison authorities, in Mumbai on Friday.—Photo Courtesy: The Hindu
Actor Sanjay Dutt with wife Manyata and daughter before leaving for Yerawada Jail after the end of his two weeks' furlough by the state prison authorities, in Mumbai on Friday.—Photo Courtesy: The Hindu

Following the expiry of 14-day-long furlough, actor Sunjay Dutt returned home after leaving for Yerawada Central Jail in Pune owing to lack of coordination between prison authorities and police over extension of leave of absence, reported NDTV.

Convicted in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, Dutt had left for jail after bidding goodbye to his wife and children. He was granted 14-day furlough earlier on December 24 and he had also requested for an extension in the term citing health issues.

"Sanjay Dutt reached Pune jail along with my colleague this afternoon when there was a news flash that the Minister concerned has made a statement that since the application seeking extension of furlough is pending, he (Dutt) does not require to surrender," Dutt's lawyer Hitesh Jain said.

“Hence we have given a letter to prison authorities that since such a news has been flashed we will wait for another 24 hours. If there is no word by then, Dutt will surrender tomorrow,” he further added.

Deputy Inspector General (prisons), Pune also commented about the actor’s application of extension:

"Sanjay Dutt cited bad health as reason for extension of furlough. We asked the Mumbai Police to verify if the reason cited by the convict is true. We sent them a correspondence but have not received any response from the local police yet."

Also read: Sanjay Dutt granted 14-day furlough from jail

However, Joint Police Commissioner (Law and Order) Dhanjay Kamlakar, who is responsible for all 93 police stations in Mumbai said otherwise:

"We have not received any communication from prison authorities to verify anything pertaining to Dutt."

Minister of State for Home Ram Shinde also said that DIG of Prisons, Pune has not yet given the final verdict regarding extension in Dutt’s furlough:

“It is up to the authorities to decide whether he should be given an extension or not. If he gets it, fine. If he doesn't, he will have to go back to jail. But no decision has been taken as yet.”

He negated the report regarding his statement that Dutt needn’t surrender to prison authorities because his application was in limbo.

Dutt had requested for a 14-day furlough because he wanted to spend the New Year with family. Speaking to reporters he informed that he had applied for an extension on December 27:

"Since the law stipulates that I should surrender myself before the authorities if I am not granted an extension, I am going to do so now.”

The actor was last seen as Bhairon Singh in Rajkumar Hirani’s PK which is booming at the box office.

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