Court to hear Sanjay Dutt's plea to surrender in Pune's Yerawada Jail

Mumbai: A  Mumbai court will today hear a petition filed by 1993 blast convict Sanjay Dutt in which he requested the court to allow him to surrender in the Yerawada Jail in Pune. Dutt is supposed to turn himself in tomorrow at the special court to complete the three remaining years of his five-year jail term. However, yesterday he told a TADA court that he was facing threats to life from fundamentalist groups and hence should be allowed to surrender before Yerwada jail instead of the special court. [caption id=“attachment_783697” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sanjay Dutt broke down at a press conference after SC upheld his jail term. AFP.[/caption] While the court is not bound to respond to Dutt’s plea today, in all likelihood, the judges will announce their verdict today itself as the actor has to surrender tomorrow. The court, which has sought the CBI’s opinion on this issue, will also get to hear what the investigating agency has to say today. Dutt filed an application before special TADA Judge GA Sanap seeking permission to surrender before the Yerwada jail in Pune instead of giving himself up before the special court in south Mumbai. Dutt, whose conviction under the Arms Act was upheld by the Supreme Court recently, is supposed to surrender on May 16. However, the apex court had reduced to five years the six-year jail term awarded to Dutt by a designated TADA court in 2006 while ruling out his release on probation, saying the “nature” of his offence was “serious”. “The applicant (Dutt) is facing threat to life from fundamentalist groups and those with vested interests,” the application said. Sanjay Dutt has appealed to be granted permission to surrender before the jail. Reuters It further claimed that the actor wanted to avoid a situation of the past when media persons and camera persons had chased his vehicle from Mumbai to Pune last time he was taken to jail after the TADA court convicted him. “The media vehicles had chased the applicant’s vehicle for 120 kilometres in the past,” the application said. Judge Sanap today asked the prosecuting agency CBI to file a reply and posted the hearing on Dutt’s plea tomorrow. Dutt filed the application in the TADA court, hours after the Supreme Court refused to grant the actor additional time to surrender for undergoing the remaining 42 months jail term in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. The apex court was hearing a petition filed by a film producer, who sought time for Dutt to complete his under-production films. Dutt, convicted under the Arms Act and sentenced to five year jail term, is supposed to surrender on 16 May before the authorities. On 10 May, the apex court had dismissed Dutt’s plea seeking review of its judgement on his conviction and five-year jail term. 53-year-old Dutt was earlier granted four weeks more time to surrender to undergo the remaining jail term. The Supreme Court, on 21 March, had upheld his conviction in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, which it said was engineered by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and others with the involvement of Pakistan’s ISI. However, the apex court had reduced to five years the six-year jail term awarded to Dutt by a designated TADA court in 2006 while ruling out his release on probation, saying the “nature” of his offence was “serious”. Dutt was convicted by the TADA court for illegally possessing a 9 mm pistol and an AK-56 rifle, which were part of a consignment of weapons and explosives brought to India for coordinated serial blasts that killed 257 people and injured over 700 in 1993. With inputs from PTI