Justify Dutt’s early release, HC tells Maha

The Bombay high court questioned the state over the “soft stance” it had taken to release actor Sanjay Dutt eight months before his prison term. It also asked if the same applied to other prisoners as well.

The court also asked the state the criterion for releasing Dutt and the parameters for assessing his good conduct while he was in and out of jail for the most part of his sentence.

It also asked the state to submit details of the decision-making authority in such matters and whether the DIG prisons were in kept the loop while truncating the term.

The court was hearing a PIL against the early release of Dutt, who

Court asks about parameters for assessing his good conduct

was convicted for possessing arms that were part of a haul smuggled into India to carry out the 1993 blasts, and was undergoing his sentence in Yerwada jail.

In July 2007, the TADA court held Dutt guilty of illegally possessing an AK 56 rifle in a notified area of Mumbai and sentenced him to six years of rigorous imprisonment. Later, in May 2013, Dutt appealed in the Supreme Court but the court turned down his plea.

However, it reduced his sentence to five years.

In February 2016, Dutt completed his sentence after it was curtailed by eight months due to good behaviour.