Click to play videoNew Delhi: Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt walked out of Pune's Yerawada jail early Thursday morning and reached his home hours later. Dutt, who had been convicted under the Arms Act in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, was granted bail by the Supreme Court two days back.
Family and friends were relieved after Dutt's release. Ajay Marwah, a close family friend, told CNN-IBN that the bail is a big respite for Dutt and he can concentrate on his work for some time now.
"Yes, this is a respite for Sanjay. Now he can focus on his work. I have seen him for over a decade and he has taken it all very well. He has become a wonderful person after having gone through all this. He's shining like a diamond. His family too is strong and have taken it all in their stride," Marwah said.
Director of Dutt's latest movie Dus Kahaniyan, Rohit Roy, too was overjoyed.
He said, “We are all happy and over the moon. He is involved in Dus Kahaniyan as an actor and producer. Now that he is out and home we are all hoping that he joins us soon.”
A beaming Dutt was seen coming out of jail with Yusuf Nulwala, who too was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Dutt had to spend two nights in jail as the bail papers had to be physically brought from the Special TADA court in Mumbai to Pune's Yerawada Jail. He was released after furnishing a bail amount of Rs 5 lakh as per the apex court order.
Under normal legal procedure, a judgment copy has to be delivered to a convict almost immediately after the judgment is passed so as to enable the convict to appeal in a higher court.
But clearly that is not the case for thousands of convicts across the state who are still waiting for their fair chance to appeal to a higher court. In this case, Dutt has been a lucky one and by way of him, many others.
With the Supreme Court now setting a precedent for fast communication of orders between courts, many nameless convicts now stand to benefit from the actions of the apex court.
Thousands of prisoners languish behind bars because copies of their bail documents or release orders do not reach concerned authorities in time.
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