Actor Sanjay Dutt, who is currently serving a sentence in Pune’s Yerwada jail after being convicted for illegal possession of arms in a case related to the 1993 serial blasts, is likely to get furlough ahead of the release of his upcoming film.
Furlough is an annual leave that prisoners get to meet their relatives. The actor had filed an application seeking 14-day furlough and officials said the application will be put before the deputy inspector general of police (prisons), who is the sanctioning authority for the grant of leave for prisoners. Sources said since the actor is eligible for furlough, he is likely to get the leave soon.
Furlough can only be granted upon issuance of a mandatory no-objection certificate (NOC) by the police. In Dutt’s case, sources said, a close relative had already deposited a surety of Rs10,000 with the Khar police station and secured the NOC.
“Around two months ago, the actor had applied for furlough. We have forwarded the application with the required recommendations to the office of the DIG (prisons). Dutt had taken furlough leave around a year ago and he is eligible to take the same this year as well,” said Yerawada jail superintendent Yogesh Desai.
“The 14-day furlough can be extended by two more weeks,” he added. Rajendra Dhamane, DIG (prisons) said his office had received the application, but it had not been presented to him as yet. “We get a number of such applications every month. I will go through the application and see if all the required documents have been submitted. We will consider his behaviour while he was on leave last time, and decide accordingly,” said Dhamane.
{{/usCountry}}“The 14-day furlough can be extended by two more weeks,” he added. Rajendra Dhamane, DIG (prisons) said his office had received the application, but it had not been presented to him as yet. “We get a number of such applications every month. I will go through the application and see if all the required documents have been submitted. We will consider his behaviour while he was on leave last time, and decide accordingly,” said Dhamane.
{{/usCountry}}The DIG also said that furlough was the right of every prisoner and unlike parole, no specific reason was necessary to avail it. “The basic concept behind furlough is that while serving the sentence, the prisoner should spend some days in society,” said Dhamane.
Prior to this, in October 2013, Sanjay Dutt was out on parole for a month.