Sanjay Dutt's Yerwada Jail release: Bombay HC asks Maharashtra govt to explain actor's furloughs

The back-and-forth between the Maharastra government and the Bombay High Court — over the early release of actor Sanjay Dutt from Yerwada Jail, where he was serving a five-year sentence in connection with the 1993 blasts case — continues. [caption id=“attachment_3862635” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sanjay Dutt. File Photo[/caption] Hindustan Times reported that a bench comprising justices RM Savant and Sadhana Jadhav questioned the frequency of paroles and furloughs granted to Dutt while he was incarcerated at Yerwada Jail. The bench further pointed out that in one instance, the actor had even been granted parole and furlough concurrently — when he had been only two months into his prison term. “Within two months from his surrender on 16 May 2013, how could authorities allow his parole and furlough leave application concurrently?” the bench asked. Responding to the court on behalf of the Maharastra government, advocate general Ashutosh Kumbhakoni said that it had made no special concessions for Dutt, and that grating parole to convicts for demonstrating good behaviour, was a routine practice. Kumbhakoni also said that no rules were fluted in releasing Dutt from prison eight months before his five-year sentence was due to end — and that the court could order Dutt to be ‘sent back to prison’ if it found otherwise. The court, however, said that they only wished to ascertain if the due process of law had been followed in Dutt’s case. It also gave the Maharastra government a two-week deadline to file a detailed affidavit, explaining why Dutt had been granted such frequent furloughs from jail, as per this DNA report.