Dutt can smoke freely in Yeravada jail

All items that are kept in the jail canteen can be consumed freely by the inmates, cigarette being one of them.

Cigarette smoking by actor-convict Sanjay Dutt, lodged at Yeravada prison here, did not violate the jail rules governing the inmates, prison sources said on Monday.

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Reacting to a media report, that a Right to Information (RTI) activist has sought to know whether the actor was given a concession to smoke in jail premises, officials clarified that all inmates were entitled to the facility.

"All items that are kept in the jail canteen could be consumed freely by the inmates, cigarette being one of them," sources added.

Meanwhile, a city-based human rights activist and lawyer Aseem Sarode, who recently met Dutt recommending him a course in Gandhian philosophy, has objected to a statement by public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam that Bollywood's support campaign for the actor amounted to contempt of court.

"Nikam's statement goes against Article 19 of the Constitution that guarantees right to freedom of expression", he said.

Dutt, sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of six years in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blast trial, underwent a routine medical-check on Sunday. He was "fine" and had breakfast this morning, sources said.