Even as actor Sanjay Dutt bid a tearful adieu to his family members on Saturday to return to Pune’s Yerawada prison after his extended parole, legal experts have said he will not be eligible to apply for parole till next year.
The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court recently quashed petitions challenging the validity of the rules restricting a prisoner from applying for parole before the completion of one year from the expiry of his last parole.
“Mr. Dutt will be able to apply for parole only after March 22, 2015. In a recent judgment, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has upheld the validity of the amendments to the Prisons (Bombay Furlough and Parole) Rules 1959,” advocate Arfan Sait told The Hindu.
ADVERTISEMENT
The State government had, through the Prisons (Bombay Furlough and Parole) (Amendment) Rules, 2012, made changes to the 1959 regulations.
Earlier, prisoners could apply for parole twice a year. But to stop the blatant misuse of the provisions, the Maharashtra government introduced the amendment in 2012.