All Articles on Sanjay Dutt verdict Here - Page 9

Glimmer of hope for Sanjay Dutt

NDTV Correspondent
Wednesday, August 1, 2007 (Mumbai)

After the TADA court sentenced actor Sanjay Dutt to six years in prison his family is preparing for a legal battle to get him out.

But what might give them some hope is that many legal experts believe Sanjay's time in prison may not last very long.

The only reason why Judge Kode couldn't give him bail is because of a technicality. A session judge can't give bail to anyone sentenced to over three years.

This means Sanjay can get bail in the Supreme Court on a technicality.

He is charged under the Arms Act and thousands of people charged under the act are out on bail.

In 12 years the actor has never violated his bail provisions. Once he gets bail he can appeal in the Supreme Court to have the sentence set aside.

This can take several years at the end of which he may be acquitted or sent back to jail to serve his six-year sentence.

The worst-case scenario is that the Supreme Court feels that TADA should be applied on Dutt, which is unlikely but possible.

If his appeal is accepted the Arms Act sentence is set aside. He is free for good. But If his appeal is rejected he goes to jail for 6 years (minus 16 months he's already done).

The Supreme Court feels that Judge Kode was too lenient. Why was TADA not applied on him (unlikely but technically its possible)?

Sanjay's first night in Jail

In his first 24 hours in jail, Sanjay Dutt has barely eaten anything and spent most of the night apparently crying, asking his fellow inmates to pray for him.

His sister Priya Dutt visited Sanjay at 5:30 pm for an hour.

Last night he shared a cell with his friend and fellow convict Yusuf Nulwalla.The cell is adjacent to that of Pravin Mahajan being tried for the murder of his brother and BJP leader Pramod Mahajan.

On Wednesday morning he was given the jail uniform to wear. At 9 am the jail Superintendent Swati Sathe read him the rules of the jail.

He was given breakfast and tea, which he supposedly did not eat or drink.

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN2007 0021089

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt spends first day in jail

MUMBAI, India (AP): Popular Indian actor Sanjay Dutt served his first day in jail Wednesday of a six-year sentence for illegal possession of weapons.

Dutt's incarceration concerned Bollywood film industry analysts who estimated losses of more than 500 million rupees (US$12 million; euro10 million) in delays in the three films he was shooting.

Many expected Dutt to be let off on probation after being convicted of illegally acquiring guns from key plotters behind the deadly 1993 Mumbai bombings. Dutt has been out on bail since 1995 after serving 18 months in jail.

Dutt was taken to Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail late Tuesday where he was given standard prison clothes. He was allowed to meet his two sisters, said a jail official on condition of anonymity, because he was not authorized to speak to the media. He was also allowed to phone his daughter who is studying in New York.

Industry analysts said Dutt's jail time was hurting filming.

"There is money on his films at various stages of production, but unless he gets bail soon, these films will be dated,'' said Rauf Ahmed, former editor of leading movie magazines Filmfare and Screen.

Dutt has three movies pending -- "Alibag,'' "Fraud'' and "Kidnap.''

"This could have been his peak spell in terms of box office success,'' Ahmed said. Dutt's recent hit "Lage Raho Munnabhai,'' or "Keep At It, Munnabhai,'' was one of Bollywood's biggest movies in recent years.

Dutt's lawyer Satish Maneshinde said the studios knew they were taking a risk in casting him.

"They were aware of it and have chosen to stand by Sanjay. They have not asked for any refund or expressed apprehension about any losses,'' said Maneshinde.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/8/1/apworld/ 20070801213333&sec=apworld

Paid labour awaits Sanjay Dutt in jail

By Krittivas Mukherjee

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Actor Sanjay Dutt, who has swapped the glamour of the silver screen for the harsh reality of prison, will soon have to choose between cooking, carpentry, farming or weaving for just a dollar a day.

Dutt was jailed for six years "rigorous imprisonment" on Tuesday for acquiring guns from gangsters linked to India's worst bombings in Mumbai in 1993 -- less 16 months he served while awaiting trial.

"Rigorous imprisonment means doing labour like cooking, carpentry, farming, working on handlooms, etcetera," a jail official said, on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

"Sanjay Dutt will be treated like any other convict and he will have to work as well."

Dutt has been temporarily lodged in a jail in his hometown Mumbai meant for prisoners under trial, where he is reportedly sharing a cell with two other men, but officials said he would probably be moved to a more permanent home soon.

Indian jails are overcrowded, with some holding almost five times their capacity. The one Dutt is lodged in now officially has room for 800 people, but houses about 3,000.

Jail sources said Dutt would be given the prison uniform - a striped white shirt with white pyjamas and a white cap once it is decided where he will serve his term.

The actor, one of the highest paid in Bollywood, will have to eat the prison meals that prisoners themselves cook. Breakfast would typically be puffed rice, or vegetable curry with a loaf of bread, while lunch and dinner is curry, lentils and Indian bread.
There is chicken or eggs on weekends.

A jail cell, which usually houses three convicts, has a bulb but no fans. The lights are switched off after 8 p.m. Each convict is given two sheets. The living conditions are far from decent with stinking common toilets and bathrooms.

In India, where political clout and money often bend the rules, many celebrities and politicians have received special treatment while under trial, some being lodged in guest houses with air-conditioners and allowed to eat home-cooked food.

In some of the lawless states in eastern and northern India, convicts with the right connections receive special treatment and access to a television, refrigerators and mobile phones.

The judge who sentenced Dutt told prison officials to take all necessary steps to ensure the star's security, but jail officials stress Dutt will not get star treatment.

Dutt also requested the court that he be put in the same barracks as a friend who helped him destroy the automatic rifle which was to land them in trouble.

On Tuesday, his relatives met him and handed him some toiletries, medicines and clothes.

Paid labour awaits Sanjay Dutt in jail

By Krittivas Mukherjee

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Actor Sanjay Dutt, who has swapped the glamour of the silver screen for the harsh reality of prison, will soon have to choose between cooking, carpentry, farming or weaving for just a dollar a day.

Dutt was jailed for six years "rigorous imprisonment" on Tuesday for acquiring guns from gangsters linked to India's worst bombings in Mumbai in 1993 -- less 16 months he served while awaiting trial.

"Rigorous imprisonment means doing labour like cooking, carpentry, farming, working on handlooms, etcetera," a jail official said, on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

"Sanjay Dutt will be treated like any other convict and he will have to work as well."

Dutt has been temporarily lodged in a jail in his hometown Mumbai meant for prisoners under trial, where he is reportedly sharing a cell with two other men, but officials said he would probably be moved to a more permanent home soon.

Indian jails are overcrowded, with some holding almost five times their capacity. The one Dutt is lodged in now officially has room for 800 people, but houses about 3,000.

Jail sources said Dutt would be given the prison uniform - a striped white shirt with white pyjamas and a white cap once it is decided where he will serve his term.

The actor, one of the highest paid in Bollywood, will have to eat the prison meals that prisoners themselves cook. Breakfast would typically be puffed rice, or vegetable curry with a loaf of bread, while lunch and dinner is curry, lentils and Indian bread.
There is chicken or eggs on weekends.

A jail cell, which usually houses three convicts, has a bulb but no fans. The lights are switched off after 8 p.m. Each convict is given two sheets. The living conditions are far from decent with stinking common toilets and bathrooms.

In India, where political clout and money often bend the rules, many celebrities and politicians have received special treatment while under trial, some being lodged in guest houses with air-conditioners and allowed to eat home-cooked food.

In some of the lawless states in eastern and northern India, convicts with the right connections receive special treatment and access to a television, refrigerators and mobile phones.

The judge who sentenced Dutt told prison officials to take all necessary steps to ensure the star's security, but jail officials stress Dutt will not get star treatment.

Dutt also requested the court that he be put in the same barracks as a friend who helped him destroy the automatic rifle which was to land them in trouble.

On Tuesday, his relatives met him and handed him some toiletries, medicines and clothes

Sanjay Dutt doing fine in jail: Lawyer

Mumbai, Aug. 1 (PTI): A day after a court gave him a six-year jail term in the 1993 serial blasts case, actor Sanjay Dutt spent his first day in capitivity at the high-security Arthur Road Jail here coming to terms with reality after the initial shock.

Dutt's lawyer, Satish Maneshinde, met the star today in barrack number one of the jail, which is used to hold people facing trial.

After the meeting, Maneshinde said Dutt was doing fine and denied reports of him having some health problems.

A man accused of cheating, who was today taken from Arthur Road Jail for a hearing in court, claimed he too was confined in barrack number one and had seen Dutt in a state of shock yesterday. The man claimed Dutt ate only fruits and refused other food.

Jail authorities, however, were tight-lipped and did not divulge information about the celebrity prisoner who spent 16 months in the same prison in two spells after his arrest in 1993.

Barrack number one of the jail in central Mumbai houses older prisoners and well-to-do undertrials, sources said.

High-ranking officials, including Inspector General of Prisons, Satish Mathur, DIG (Prisons) S P Yadav, and Arthur Road Jail Superintendent, Swati Sathe, today held a meeting to discuss whether Dutt, a convict, can serve his sentence in a jail meant for persons facing trial.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200708011760.htm

I'll make this a sticky as this is quite a big topic and i'm sure many members want to shar their views. 😉

Sanjay Dutt chooses carpentry in jail

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Subzi, roti lunch for Sanjay Dutt in Arthur Road jail

It was a frugal lunch of brinjal subzi, dal, four rotis and some rice for Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt on Wednesday after he spent his first night at Barrack No.1 of the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai following his six year jail sentence.

He was shifted from Barrack No.10 late on Tuesday night for security reasons.

Dutt, who was brought to the jail on Tuesday evening after being sentenced to six years rigorous imprisonment in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, spent his first night in jail like any other inmate - minus fan, bed sheet or pillow.

However, he was provided a blanket for the night, which all prisoners are entitled to, said a jail official.

Lodged in a 90-sq ft cell in Barrack No.1, Dutt had to wear the regulation prickly jail-provided white shirt and pyjamas. Though he was not permitted to bring in extra clothes like jeans, he was allowed some luxury - he could get in his full toilet kit.

The kit comprised of the actor's favourite London's premium brand Molten Brown toiletries like mouthwash, hair-wash, and soap, a jail source revealed.

Though Dutt, 48, was permitted the luxuries of his favourite toiletries, he has to share his toilet and bathroom with eight other prisoners.

A chain smoker, Dutt is believed to have been allowed to take in a 10-pack of his favoured brand - Marlboro Lights. He has also carried combs, toothbrush and towels from Mumbai's ITC Grand Central.

"He had a frugal breakfast of sweetened tea and biscuits and a couple of slices of bread at 7:30 am. The regular jail lunch was at 10:30 am. He will be served tea at 3 pm and dinner immediately afterwards at 3:30 pm, identical to what he had for lunch," a jail official told IANS.

The actor, who was initially lodged in Barrack No.10, was shifted to No.1 for security reasons in a late-night development on Tuesday.

"Sanjay Dutt was shifted to Barrack No.1 from No.10 late last night, taking his security into account," said sources at the Arthur Road Jail on Wednesday.

Barrack No. 10 has high-profile inmates like extradited mobster Abu Salem and Mustafa Dossa, both of whom are being tried separately in the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings.

Incidentally, Dutt had on Tuesday asked the special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Preventive) Act (TADA) judge Pramod Kode not to put him and his two associates, Yusuf Nulwala and Kersi Adajenia, in the infamous 'andda' (egg-shaped) cell of Arthur Road prison. "The actor spent an uneventful night, while his two friends, Nulwala and Adajenia, were shifted to Barrack No. 8," the source said.

Barrack No. 1 has one big cell with around 30 prisoners, and three small cells. Sanjay had one of the small cells. Praveen Mahajan, who is under trial for allegedly killing his brother and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pramod Mahajan, is in another. The third houses members of the fugitive mobster Chhota Shakeel's gang - Salim Fruit and Shahid Sheikh.

The Munnabhai star did not taste the jail dinner on Tuesday as the scheduled dinner time was over much before he was brought in.

The cell in which Dutt is lodged is near the main door of the jail and is popularly known as the Buddha barrack, as earlier all aged undertrials were lodged there.

The cell, which till recently housed a Mumbai civic official accused in a real estate deal connected with India's most wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim, was given a fresh coat of paint on Monday.

It has a toilet-cum bathroom facility outside, and a bucket of water is provided. Water is supplied twice a day at 4 am and 3:30 pm, jail sources said.

Dutt is to be in Barrack no1 till Thursday, after which the authorities will decide where to shift him. Arthur Road Jail is meant for undertrials and has no facilities for rigorous imprisonment, like carpentry or weaving work that convicts have to undertake.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPag e.aspx?id=1c120388-7ed5-41a6-b81e-1496745fd1881993Mumbaiblas tsVerdictatlast_Special&&Headline=EMSubzi%2fEM%2c+EMroti+%2f EMlunch+for+Dutt+in+Arthur+Rd+jail

Jail officials meet on Dutt security

Wednesday, August 1, 2007 (Mumbai)

Senior jail officials held a meeting inside Arthur Road jail to discuss security for Sanjay Dutt.

Dutt will have to stay at Arthur Road at least till the TADA decides on August 2 on his plea to be kept there.

The jail otherwise houses only undertrials. Those convicted are moved to jails elsewhere in the state.

Sanjay spent the first night of his six-year jail term in one of the six cells in Barrack No 10 of Arthur Road Jail.

Dutt, who lives in Pali Hill, is no stranger to Arthur Road jail, since this is where he spent time in 1993 when he was first arrested.

NDTV has learnt that Sanjay was initially put up in Barrack No 10, where underworld gangster Abu Salem is also lodged, but was later shifted to Barrack No 1.

Praveen Mahajan, who is facing trial for killing his brother, BJP leader Pramod Mahajan is in the same barrack.

Sources have told NDTV that Sanjay Dutt had to sleep on a concrete bed like all other prisoners and had prison food.

According to sources, Dutt wore his own clothes in the night and was given the jail uniform to wear at 7 in the morning.

The superintendent will decide if he is to be moved to any of the jails in Nashik, Aurangabad, Thane Central or Kolhapur. However, according to court orders he cannot be moved before August 2.

But if Dutt's lawyers succeed in appealing for his confinement in Mumbai, he may not be transferred. Sanjay's family wants him to stay in Mumbai for security reasons.

Arthur Road is home to several high profile prisoners. Almost all of Mumbai's underworld has its own barracks. Barrack No 7 has some men from the Chota Rajan gang.

Dasmunsi backs Dutt

Sanjay Dutt's lawyer has made it clear he would appeal to the Supreme Court.

And for a man who's family is rooted in the Congress Party, there's public support from none other than the Information and Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi.

He said that all efforts should be made to enable Sanjay Dutt to get ''relief'' from the highest judiciary.

''All efforts should be made to enable Sanjay Dutt to get relief from the highest judiciary,'' he said.

''I believe in judiciary but feel that Sanjay Dutt has already suffered enough,'' he added.

He also expressed his ''deep shock and surprise'' on the award of jail term to Dutt in a press release.

Meanwhile, his family is exploring possibilities to get him out on bail and get some relief from the SC.

For Sanjay Dutt, it's been a long and bumpy journey to the Arthur Road Jail - from a troubled young man who had to undergo therapy for drug abuse to the loved and respected actor who played the iconic role of Munnabhai, the gangster with the heart of gold.

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN2007 0020985&ch=8/1/2007%202:34:00%20PM

Dutt was on verge of a mega deal

MUMBAI: On the eve of the Tada court judgment in the serial bomb blasts case, Sanjay Dutt was on the verge of a great high in his 26-year career, with corporates offering him megabucks to enter into a partnership with them.

Confirms trade analyst Amod Mehra, "After Lage Raho Munnabhai , Dutt was finally hitting the high spots and being offered unbelievable sums of money by the corporates."

Adds another trade source, "The partnership details can't be disclosed because negotiations were still under way, but Dutt, for the first time in his career, would have raked in the kind of money the Khans do."

For the last few weeks, the grapevine had been buzzing about a crack in the partnership between Dutt and producer-director Sanjay Gupta, with Dutt threatening to walk out of White Feather Films in which he reportedly held a 10 per cent stake.

However, Gupta insisted that all was well between him and "Baba" and that everything had been sorted out. In fact, the director had been visiting Dutt nearly everyday for the last week or so.

Corporates have offered lucrative partnerships to actors like Anil Kapoor, Ajay Devgan and Aamir Khan, and after Lage Raho Munnabhai's success Dutt was next on their list.

The actor and his to-be partners were discussing six new films. However, his jail sentence has put paid to all that, and the corporate deals will now either be deferred or shelved.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Dutt_was_on_verge_o f_a_mega_deal/articleshow/2247325.cms