The Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation plea that had challenged the decision to release Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt early. Dutt was sentenced to five years in prison in 2007 in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
A bench of Justices SC Dharamadhikari and Bharati Dangre ruled that the state government had not flouted any law and had succeeded in backing its claims of impartiality in the case, PTI reported.
“We found nothing contrary in the records submitted by the state Home department and the explanation offered by the state,” the judges noted. “No violations or abuse of discretionary powers were detected.”
The court told the government to come up with a scheme to ensure that hearing of all parole and furlough applications are expedited and dealt with in a transparent manner. “The public or the inmates themselves must not get the impression that the authorities grant favours in allowing parole and furlough.”
In June 2017, the Bombay High Court had asked the government to justify its decision to release Dutt, who was imprisoned in Pune’s Yerawada jail, eight months before his release date on account of his “good behaviour”. The actor was on bail during the trial.
Dutt had surrendered in May 2016 after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction. He was sentenced to five years in jail in 2007 after he was found guilty of illegally possessing an AK-56 rifle and a pistol, acquired from those involved in the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai.
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