The Maharashtra government on Thursday told the Bombay High Court that Sanjay Dutt could be sent back to jail if they had *broken any norms in remitting the actor’s sentence in the 1993 blasts case. *
A bench of justices RM Savant and Sadhana Jadhav, said that the court had “no such intention,” and that it only wished to confirm that the “due process of law was followed,” in allowing the actor to walk out of jail eight months before the completion of his five-year sentence.
They also questioned the decision of the state and prison authorities to grant frequent paroles to Dutt while he was serving his sentence in Pune’s Yerwada jail.
It noted in one instance, just two months into his sentence, Dutt had been granted parole, and furlough “concurrently” – a practice rarely followed for regular convicts.
Advocate general, Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, who appeared for the state government, stated that the jail authorities and the state government routinely granted parole to most convicts to “encourage good conduct,” and to reward for their good behaviour.
He argued that he had “searched the origins of the word parole on Google” and affirmed the word indeed meant to offer a reward of sorts.
He argued it was just in cases involving “high-profile convicts, even a day’s delay or remission was made a big deal of”.
The bench has directed the government to file a detailed affidavit within two weeks, explaining the reasons for granting the frequent paroles, furlough and remission to Dutt.
