Sanjay Dutt's pettition to commute jail term rejected by Governor

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MUMBAI: Sanjay Dutt, who is out on a 30-day parole, will surrender to the Yerawada jail in Pune on Saturday and his legal team said former Supreme Court judge Markanday Katju had made a plea for his pardon in the case. The 56-year-old actor, who is undergoing a five-year prison term for his conviction under the Arms Act for illegal possession, more than two decades ago, of an AK-56 rifle, has a few more months to go before he completes the sentence early next year.

Read: Sanjay Dutt: This is how his life changed with jail term

Dutt's lawyer Hitesh Jain said the Maharashtra governor's refusal to reduce his term was not in response to any plea by the actor. "Dutt had not even asked for remission. The governor's refusal has to do with the move much earlier by Justice Katju."

Dutt had applied for parole on March 26 for his daughter's surgery in April, but got out of prison on parole on August 26 (the surgery had taken place as scheduled). Dutt, in the past month spent time with family and friends at home, and got a steady stream of directors and producers as visitors. They are said to be waiting eagerly for his prison term to end. Among those who dropped by were Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Sanjay Gupta, sources said.

"Furlough and parole granted to Dutt are legally granted within the framework of the rules," said Subhash Jadhav, who may accompany the actor to Pune. "Like applications for other convicts are considered for furlough and parole, his were too. Hundreds of convicts are released on parole and furlough every year," he said.

The governor's refusal was on an application by Justice Katju on behalf of not only Dutt but also Zaibunissa Kazi, another convict in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case, who unlike Dutt was convicted under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (Tada).

Jain said, "Neither Dutt nor his family members approached the former SC judge for making any application for pardon on his behalf. Justice Katju had suo motto made this application for pardon in 2013."

Dutt, after factoring in remission under the prison roles, is likely to complete his term in January, according to his lawyer's calculation, while the state says it may be in February.

Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao decided the two-year-old pardon plea on September 15, on the recommendation of the home department, which cautioned that it may become a precedent, not a good one, as the Supreme Court had upheld his conviction and reduced his prison term by a year.

Justice Katju was not questioning the SC verdict but only said he was questioning the quantum as Dutt had already spent 18 months in prison when the apex court confirmed his conviction in March 2013.