Sanjay Dutt on legal delay, life in prison: 'My family was threatened, it shouldn't have taken 25 years'

Sanjay Dutt discussed his family's struggles during his imprisonment, reflecting on the chaos of 1993.

Sanjay Dutt, who completed a five-year sentence under the Arms Act and was released in 2016, recently reflected on the fear, confusion, and constant pressure his family endured during the turbulent period of 1993 in a podcast. Looking back, he described the atmosphere around him as chaotic and unpredictable, affecting not just him but everyone close to him.

Sanjay Dutt emphasised personal growth during his time in jail, learning about law and spirituality, while expressing frustration over the slow legal system in a podcast.(AFP)

Sanjay Dutt on family being threatened

“My father was being threatened, my sisters were being threatened. They said I had a gun, but they couldn’t prove it. So I don’t know what it was that actually put me inside there. All I can say is that it shouldn’t have taken them 25 years to realise that I was not in the TADA Act or in the bomb blast case. I don’t know why it took them 25 years to realise that, and then convict me in the Arms Act case without having a gun, without finding a gun,” Sanjay said during a recent appearance on The Himanshu Mehta Show.

Despite the emotional and mental strain, the actor said he used his time in prison to rebuild himself. Instead of allowing frustration or anger to overwhelm him, he tried to turn the experience into a journey of personal growth.

Sanjay on learning in prison

“But I take it as a part of my life, and I take it as a learning. I learned a lot. I learned the laws of the land. I learned to be a prosecutor, andI learned to be a defence lawyer. I learned many things. I read a lot of books on law. I faced my jail time with dignity. When I was there, I read many books. I prayed a lot, I chanted, I meditated. I read the Shiv Puran, the Ganesh Puran, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata. I had that time in jail to read about my religion, about all the great gods.”

What troubled him most, however, was the slow pace of the legal system. He said he saw many inmates lose precious years simply waiting for their cases to progress.

On the professional front, Dutt will next be seen in Dhurandhar, releasing in theatres on 5 December, starring alongside Ranveer Singh, Akshaye Khanna, R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal and Sara Arjun.