SC rejects Dutt's petition seeking early release

The last hope for actor Sanjay Dutt to get out of jail early was dashed on Tuesday after the Supreme Court dismissed a curative petition challenging his five-year imprisonment for possessing illegal arms in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

A four-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice P Sathasivam did not find any legal infirmity in the verdict pronouncing the 53-year-old actor guilty.

Dutt surrendered on May 16 to serve the remaining three and a half years of his jail term. He had already spent 18 months in judicial custody.

He is lodged at Yerawada Jail in Pune. The curative petition is the last legal resort. Like a review petition, it is heard in chambers by a bench comprising two or three senior-most judges, besides those who passed the first judgment. The bench which passed the order in Dutt’s case also comprised justices G S Singhvi, R M Lodha and B S Chauhan. The court on May 10 dismissed a review petition filed by Dutt.

The apex court on March 21 upheld Dutt’s conviction under the Arms Act, but reduced his six-year sentence for possessing AK-56 rifles by one year.

The court on April 17 extended the deadline for him to surrender by four weeks after he sought relief on humanitarian grounds to complete shooting of films like “
“Policegiri,” “Zanjeer,” “Vasooli” and “Dwand.” He claimed that Rs 278 crore was at stake.