Sanjay Dutt to leave home now for Pune

Actor Sanjay Dutt is returning to Pune Yerawada jail from Mumbai on Thursday. With the prison authorities not having decided his application for extension of furlough which ended on Thursday, he is saying his goodbyes to his twins and wife Manyata at his Mumbai residence before he heads out between 1 pm and 2 pm to Pune.
The actor was on a two-week leave of furlough from prison where he is serving a five-year sentence for his conviction under the Arms Act for illegal possession of an AK-56 rifle just before the March 1993 blasts in Mumbai.
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Advoate Hitesh Jain, Dutt's lawyer told TOI that despite making the plea for extension on December 27, 2014, the jail authorities did not even process the file till January 4 and took no decision even as his leave ended. "It is as if the authorities did not want to even do their job of taking a decision on the application, one way or the other.'' "The papers had not reached Mumbai from the Pune Prison for the police report as part of the procedure,'' Jain had said.
The actor had been released last month on furlough which the prison authorities had granted for 14 days. His release was a day after the state winter assembly session ended. The state home department conducted an enquiry into his leave after receiving some protests but the minister of state for home said the enquiry had revealed no irregularity and that the leave was properly sanctioned.
Dutt had reached his home in Bandra, a suburb in Mumbai on Christmas Eve and spent time with his twin toddlers, wife Manyata and friends. The team which made PK in which he had a role, had organized a special screening for him and few others and guests included the star Aamir Khan.
He had applied for furlough, a legally entitled leave which convicts can get every year, in October and it was sanctioned in December 2014.
The leave is to ensure that prisoners maintain contact with society and their families. Unlike parole, it requires no reason, and can be extended after two weeks for another two weeks initially and with reason for up to 120 days. The leave is counted as part of the prison term and is available every year to convicted felons. The actor had surrendered in May 2013 after Supreme Court upheld his conviction and sentence for illegal arms possession. He had been granted a month long furlough in October, 2013 followed by parole that December.
Listen to Sanjay Dutt songs on Gaana.com
WATCH: Sanjay Dutt waits for decision on 14-day extension of furlough - TOI