After the Bombay High Court asked the Maharashtra government to justify reasons behind actor Sanjay Dutt being granted early release from jail, the latter told the court that it can send the actor back to jail if it feels there were anomalies in the process.
Dutt's repeated paroles during the imprisonment had made the court further suspicious about the decision.
The Maharashtra government had said that the actor's "good behaviour" in the jail was the reason for cutting down his imprisonment. However, the court was not convinced by the explanation and asked how his "good behaviour" was assessed when Dutt was out on parole for so many days. Even the repeated grants of parole made the court feel that he was given special treatment in the jail.
"On July 8, 2013, he (Dutt) filed for furlough and then on July 25 he sought to be released on parole. Both the applications were allowed and that too concurrently. How did the jail authorities ascertain good behaviour and conduct within two months of the convict surrendering? Normally the superintendent of jail would not even forward the applications. The authorities would throw out the application," DNA quoted Justice Sadhana Jadhav as saying.
Interestingly, Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbakoni then told the court that it can direct Dutt back to jail, if it feels that the state government was wrong in granting early remission to the actor.
"We do not want to set the clock back in time. We are not for a moment suggesting that he go back to jail. But we only want such issues to be streamlined so that in future no questions are raised," the court said. The court then asked the state government to file a detailed affidavit within two weeks.
The hearing began after Pune-based Pradeep Bhalekar, in a public interest litigation, challenged the repeated paroles granted to Dutt during his jail term. Dutt was convicted for illegal possession and destruction of an AK-56 rifle during 1993 serial blasts case.
