Under severe flak from various quarters for the second parole extension granted to Bollywood actor and convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case Sanjay Dutt, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said on Wednesday that the Pune Revenue divisional administration’s decision to extend the actor’s parole till March 20 was “as per law” and no rules had been violated.
“The actor’s parole has been extended as per law. While granting parole to a convict, a specified number of days are fixed. In the actor’s case, no rules have been violated. The authorities concerned take these decisions, after following due procedures. There is no politics in this,” the Chief Minister said, while reacting to Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray’s criticism that the DF Government was meting out “preferential treatment” to the actor.
In a statement published in the Sena’s office mouth-piece “Saamana”, Uddhav charged that the DF Government was adopting “dual yardsticks” when it came to dealing with convicts like Sanjay Dutt and those accused who were yet to face trial in the September 29,2008 Malageon blasts case like lt Col Shrikant Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur.
“Accused in the Malegaon blasts case like Col Prasad Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya have been languishing in the jail for the last five years, even without their having faced the trial or having been held guilty of the charges against them. How is that in Sanjay Dutt’s case, the yardstick applied is differentIJ. The actor is being let off on parole repeatedly even after his conviction (in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts,” Uddhav said.
“Unlike in the case the actor who has been held guilty of the charges against him, the Prosecution has yet to prove the charges against Col Purohit and Sadhvi Pragya. Still the two accused in the Malegaon blasts are being meted out step motherly treatment. How does the state government account for the dual yardsticks adopted by it in the two sets of casesIJ,” the Sena president asked.
On Tuesday, the Pune Revenue divisional administration extended Sanjay’s parole by 30 more days on the ground that he wanted to “take care of” his wife Manyata who is recuperating from a recent surgery.
The grant of a second 30-day extension of parole to Sanjay came three days ahead of his scheduled return to Pune’s Yerwada Central prison to serve the remainder of 42 months’ jail term in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
Citing his wife’s illness, the actor had made an application to Pune Divisional Commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh early this month, for a further extension of his parole.Acting on a report from the Khar police and a team of doctors from the state-run JJ Hospital in Mumbai that looked into Manyata’s health issues, the Pune divisional administration extended the Bollywood actor’s parole further till March 20.
Fifty-four-year-old Sanjay, who had been released on a 30-day parole from the Yerwada prison on December 20, had got first extension of parole on January 20, 2014. In the normal course, Sanjay was to return to the Yerwada prison on or before February 21.
In fact, the latest extension of parole till March 20 has facilitated the Bollywood actor to stay out of the prison for four months ever since he surrendered before a designated TADA court in Mumbai on May 16 to serve the remaining 42 months’ jail term in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.
Sanjay, who had initially been released on a 14-day- furlough from the Yerwarda prison on October 1, had succeeded in getting an extension of leave for another 14 days, a grace period that had come in handy for him to spend more time with his family and also to undergo treatment of blood clots formed in his legs. He had returned to the Yerwada prison on October 30.
However, the actor was released from the Pune on 30-day parole on December 20, on the ground of his wife Manyata’s illness. Sanjay has since been granted two parole extensions. He will now have to return to the Pune”s Yerwada prison on or before March 21.