Sanjay Dutt Out on Parole; Rajkumar Hirani hosts Special Screening of 'PK' for Him
Sanjay Dutt Out on Parole; Rajkumar Hirani hosts Special Screening of 'PK' for HimVarinder Chawla

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt appealed to Maharashtra government to extend his furlough by 14 days, but it got rejected.

"His application has been rejected. He will return to jail today itself," his lawyer Hitesh Jain told IANS.

Dutt's latest furlough of 14 days ended on Thursday, but he did not return to Yerawada Central Jail in Pune as a decision on his extension application of 27 December was pending. Dutt returned home on Thursday to be with his family in Mumbai.

"The authorities have yet to inform us on his application seeking extension of furlough leave. Till then, he is at home in Mumbai," Jain told IANS.

The 55-year-old actor, who flew to Pune and went up to Yerawada Central Jail, spent a few hours in the vicinity of the prison and later went away without surrendering though his 14-day furlough had ended.

The ostensible reason was that a government official had said that it was not necessary for him to go back to jail till a decision was taken on his 27 December application for extension of his furlough.

He had been granted a 14-day furlough to go home on 24 December.

Before leaving for Pune on Thursday, Dutt told media persons that his application for extension of furloug was still under process.

"We made the request for extension the furlough Dec 27 and it is still under process. As the laws stipulate that I must surrender myself if I am not granted the extension, I am doing it now," he had said.

Earlier Dutt was released on furlough in October 2013 for two weeks on health reasons, followed by a similar leave in December 2013 to tend to his ailing wife, Maanyata, attracting charges of favouritism.

Dutt's latest furlough saw him attending a special show of the latest Aamir Khan megahit, "PK", and celeb parties, while exhibiting his new set of eight abs built up in prison.

In February last year, the Bombay High Court had commented on the diligence in granting the actor's requests for furlough which was not visible in case of other convicts who applied for leave.

Dutt was convicted in 2007 for illegal possession of an AK-56 assault rifle during the 1992-1993 Mumbai communal conflagrations before the 12 March, 1993, serial bomb blasts in the city and sentenced to six years jail. The Supreme Court had upheld the conviction in 2013 but reduced the sentence to five years, less time already served.

Dutt surrendered on 16 May, 2013, and was moved to the high-security jail in Pune to serve the remainder of his 42-month sentence.