Show us average prisoner gets same treatment as Sanjay Dutt: HC to govt

COURT ASKS Can you account for every single minute of Dutt’s parole & furlough

The Maharashtra government on Friday refuted allegation of ‘favouring’ actor Sanjay Dutt, while he served his jail term for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case. The government informed the Bombay High Court that it could justify ‘every single minute’ of the parole and furlough granted to Dutt. Meanwhile, a division bench of Justice Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and Justice Bharati Dangre asked the government to spell out if it applied the same rules (for granting parole/furlough) to even to an ‘average’ inmate.

The judges were hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which questioned the “frequent” parole or furlough Dutt got while serving his five years jail term. The PIL also raised questions on Dutt’s premature release from prison in 2016, on account of his “good conduct.”

Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhkoni defended the government saying, “Not even for a single minute or second was Dutt out of jail in breach of law. We can account for every single minute that he was permitted to stay out of jail.”

“We follow a strict, standard procedure for granting parole for every inmate. In times of RTI queries and PILs, we take no chance,” Kumbhkoni clarified.

Kumbhkoni said, “In cases of medical emergency, we take nearly 24 hours or even eight days to decide on applications of parole. In Dutt's case, we had sent a police officer to interview the doctor who was to perform the surgery to ensure that this was a genuine case.”

Having heard the submissions, Justice Dharmadhikari said, “We want to know from you (government) that you follow the same procedure for all inmates. Else let us clarify, we will then issue appropriate directions.”The matter would be taken up for further hearing on February 1.