Mumbai: Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt spent a sleepless night in Arthur Road Jail after he surrendered to serve the remaining 42 months prison term.
Dutt has been lodged in the transit barrack of the high security prison. On arrival at the jail at around 11pm, he was escorted to his room. The actor ate home-cooked food for dinner and lay down to sleep. He wanted a bottle of water, which was given to him.
Dutt is most likely to be shifted to Yerwada jail in Pune.
Apart from a series of items that Dutt sought permission to carry inside jail, his counsel Merchant told the court that the actor suffers from stenosis in both his limbs and pleaded for permission to use a thin mattress and thin pillow.
“I am coming to the court with folded hands. I am not seeking luxury, only want basic facilities. I have been suffering from this ailment since 2010 due to which there is rigidity in the nerves of my limbs. I am not seeking a luxurious mattress. I should be allowed to take along a thin mattress and a thin pillow,” Merchant said, representing Dutt.
The TADA court allowed the use of these articles for a month after which the treatment given to him will be as per the jail manual.
“Except the cigarettes, I am allowing everything,” the judge said. About smoking, the judge said, ‘Stop it.’ Dutt smiled and bowed before him again before returning to his seat.
He has been allowed to carry the following items: Six pairs of undergarments, a kurta, a pair of pyjamas, two reading glasses, two bars of soap, two toothbrushes, a toothpaste, two bottles of shampoo, a pair of slippers, three tubes of a mosquito repellant gel, a bedsheet, a mattress, a pillow, a copy each of the Hanuman Chalisa, the Bhagwad Gita and the Ramayana. The court also allowed home-cooked for a period of one month.
The Supreme Court, on March 21 this year, upheld Dutt’s conviction in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. However, the apex court had reduced to five years the six-year jail term awarded by TADA court, and ruled out release on probation, saying the ‘nature’ of his offence was ‘serious’. (UNI)