Sanjay Dutt released from Yerwada jail

Mumbai: Sanjay Dutt has been released from the Yerwada Jail in Pune after being granted remission in his five-year sentence.

He was arrested on April 19, 1993, for possessing and destroying an AK- 56 rifle which was a part of the cache of arms and explosives that landed in India prior to the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

The actor was convicted by the Supreme Court of India under the Arms Act for possessing the prohibited weapon. He had already served 18-months in prison as an undertrial in Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail. To serve the remaining 42-months of imprisonment, Dutt was lodged in Pune's Yerawada prison in May 2013.

On the eve of his release after serving 42 months behind bars, public interest litigation was filed in the Bombay High Court Wednesday challenging his early release on remission, alleging that the 56-year-old actor was getting preferential treatment.

Maharashtra Minister of State for Home Ram Shinde yesterday said the actor will be completing his jail term on February 25, after counting in the eight months and 16 days he earned as exemption or remission on account of good behaviour in prison.

Jail officials said the actor, who has been dogged by controversies triggered by accusations that he availed of irregular remission in his sentence and was accorded a special treatment by the authorities.

According to his lawyers, Dutt's remission days were calculated in accordance with rules and jail manual.

Embroiled in heated debates over his frequent parole and furlough leave in many quarters, the actor, however, consistently participated in the programmes on internal circuit jail radio, prison sources said.

(With PTI inputs)