A day after the Pune divisional administration ordered the release of incarcerated Sanjay Dutt on a 30-day parole from the Yerawada prison on the grounds of the ill-health of his wife Manyata, Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil on Saturday went on the defensive and said he would ascertain “facts” leading to the grant of parole to the Bollywood actor.
With serious doubts expressed in various quarters over the purported ‘ill-heath’ of Sanjay’s wife Manyata, a somewhat cornered Patil said that he would make a detailed statement in the State Assembly, after ascertaining the basis on which Pune Divisional Commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh ordered the actor’s release from Yerawada prison.
“I will go through the medical certificate (of Manyata) and supporting documents on the basis of which the Pune Divisional Commissioner granted parole to the actor. Thereafter, I will make a detailed statement in the State Assembly,” the State Home Minister told mediapersons. On a day when the Republican Party of India workers staged black flag demonstration in front of Yerawada prison, where the actor is serving the remainder of 42 months’ jail term in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, leader of the Opposition in the State legislative Council
Vinod Tawde of the BJP charged that the actor was being given “preferential treatment” since the latter (Sanjay) was the brother of ruling Congress MP Priya Dutt. After the controversy triggered by the actor’s claims of “ill-health” of his wife stalled his release, Manyata’s physician Dr Ajay Chaughule went to town claiming that she has a tumour in her liver. Vinod Tawde demanded to know if the State Home Minister had raised any objection to the manner in which the Pune divisional administration had granted the parole. Fifty-four-year-old Sanjay was granted 30-days’ parole by Pune Divisional Commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh on Friday.
“Based on a recommendation by Pune’s Yerwada Jail Superintendent and the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mumbai, I have ordered the release of the actor on 30-days’ parole. The recommended ground for parole is that the actor’s wife is not well,” Deshmukh had said, after ordering Sanjay’s release on parole. The grant of 30-day parole to Sanjay comes little over a month after he returned to the Pune-based jail, after availing 28-day-long furlough.
“The problem started three years ago, when she (Manyata) complained of chest pain and palpitation. Her stress test proved to be positive. A couple of doctors advised her to undergo angiography. Since she was breast feeding her children at that time, she had refused to undergo angiography. After that, I had prescribed her some medicine for her ailment. After that, she recovered from her illness,” Chaughule said.
Chaughule, a senior heart and cardio thoracic surgeon and heart and lung transplant surgeon with the Global Hospital, added: “But, a few days back, she experienced giddiness. She has also lost 10 kilos weight in 15-20 days. During the basic medical investigations carried out on before she underwent cardiac tests, she was diagnosed with a large tumour in her liver”.
The actor may have cited his wife’s “illness” as a reason for his decision to seek parole from the Yerwada, but what has given rise to serious doubts about Manyata’s illness is that there were recent reports to that effect and in a pointer to suggest that all was well with her, she was spotted attending the pre-release screening-cum-party held on the eve of the release of “R…..Rajkumar”, starring Shahid Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha, in Mumbai on December 5 (Thursday). Her photograph at the screening venue was published on film-related websites on Friday and in some city newspapers on Saturday.
Meanwhile, former IPS officer-turned-lawyer YP Singh made a strong case for the cancellation of the parole granted to the actor, saying: “In Manyata’s case, it was pretty clear, she had no serious illness, let alone her having been ill at all. This was clear from the hale and hearty manner she had conducted herself at the film premier a couple of days ago. Still some officials favoured Sanjay by granting him a 30-day parole. The State Government should order an inquiry into the grounds on which the actor was granted parole”.
In a related development, Shagufta Kazi, daughter of Zaibunissa Kazi, another convict in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case (who is also serving a jail term of five years at Yerawada Central Prison for women, slammed the authorities for denying parole to her mother, even while giving preferential treatment to the incarcerated actor.
“My mother is over 70-year-old. She should get parole now as other people are getting it on normal medical grounds as my 90-year-old grandmother has been waiting to meet her daughter,” Shagufta said. Zaibunissa was denied parole by Pune Divisional Commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh, who had been quoted by the Pune media as saying that her application (for parole) had been rejected “on the basis of a negative report given by the Mumbai Police”.