Sanjay Dutt may be shifted to Yerwada jail tomorrow

Mumbai: Actor Sanjay Dutt, who spent last night in Arthur Road jail, is likely to be taken to Yerwada jail in a day or two. Paper work and legal formalities are delaying the process and he is awaiting an order which decides as to which jail will he be permanently shifted to. [caption id=“attachment_791937” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Actor Sanjay Dutt. Reuters[/caption] Dutt, who has been sentenced to undergo a three year six month sentence, surrendered before the Tada court on Thursday afternoon amid media chaos. He was accompanied by his wife Manyata, family and friends. Dutt’s lawyer said the court has not given any favours for Dutt. “The court has not given any favour to anybody. There are no specific facilities for anyone,” Sanjay Dutt’s lawyer Rizwan Merchant said. The 53-year-old actor was allowed to take with him copies of the Bhagwad Gita, Ramayan and Hanuman Chalisa besides his toiletries including toothpaste, shampoo, slippers, kurta, pyjama and mosquito repellants. However, TADA Judge GA Sanap rejected Dutt’s request for an electronic cigarette (Dutt is a chain smoker). Instead, the judge advised him to quit smoking. Capping another phase in the Bollywood actor’s chequered life, Dutt drove to the court in South Mumbai in the afternoon accompanied by his wife Manyata, sister and Congress MP Priya and brother-in-law Owen Roncon. He was sent to the Arthur Road Central Prison by court after completion of formalities, which took several hours. He may be shifted soon to the Yerwada jail in Pune. Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt also came along with the Dutt family in their car but did not come up to the court. Besides Dutt, four other convicts – Essa Memon, Kersi Adjania, Yusuf Nulwala and Altaf Shaikh – also surrendered to serve their remaining jail term. A visibly shaken Dutt, sporting a red tika on his forehead, entered the court at 2.50 pm with his family members. He was wearing a white crisp kurta and blue jeans. The actor bowed down before the judge who asked him to mention his name, to which he replied “Sanjay Sunil Dutt”. He was then asked about the sentence undergone by him (after his arrest in 1993) and he replied promptly “551 days in jail, Sir”. The judge then asked him to go to the dock in the back row of the Court and take his seat. Manyata, Priya and Roncon followed Dutt and sat with him on the same bench. Manyata held Dutt’s hand and both seemed to console each other. Dutt’s lawyer also urged the court to allow the visits of the family members on a regular basis. He also requested that the actor may not be given harsh jobs in the prison. Advocate Merchant later said the actor was planning to file a curative petition in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, on March 21 this year, upheld Dutt’s conviction in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. However, the apex court had reduced to five years the six-year jail term awarded by TADA court, and ruled out release on probation, saying the “nature” of his offence was “serious”. Dutt has already spent 18 months in jail, so he has another three and half years to serve. The actor was convicted by the TADA court for illegally possessing a 9 mm pistol and an AK-56 rifle, a part of the consignment of weapons and explosives brought to India for coordinated serial blasts that killed 257 people and injured over 700 in March 1993. The apex court had on 14 May refused to grant him more time to surrender. On 10 May, the Supreme Court had also dismissed Dutt’s plea seeking review of its judgement. Last night about 9.45 pm, Dutt stepped into Arthur Road Jail in Central Mumbai where he is likely to spend at least two days, before being possibly shifted to the Pune jail. With PTI inputs