Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt has withdrawn his petition to surrender at the Yerwada Jail in Pune and will surrender before the special TADA court in Mumbai on Thursday (16 May).
Dutt, who has been convicted under the Arms Act in connection with the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, had told the court on Tuesday that there is threat to his life "from vested interests and other fundamentalist groups and organizations", reported The Times of India. He requested the court to allow him to surrender directly at Yerwadi jail, instead of the special TADA court in Mumbai.
The court was supposed to hear the case on Wednesday (15 May), but the actor withdrew his petition. The actor had filed his petition in the TADA court, just hours after the Supreme Court dismissed the plea filed by two producers of his films to grant him more time to surrender.
"We had already said that no application for extension of time will be entertained," the court said, according to PTI.
Last week, the SC dismissed the actor's plea seeking review of its judgement on his conviction. On 21 March, a bench of justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan upheld the conviction of the actor by the Special TADA court and sentenced him to five years jail.
In April, the SC granted Dutt and seven other convicts four-week time to surrender. The actor had sought six months time to complete his film projects that are worth about ₹270 crore, but the court granted Dutt only four weeks of time to complete his projects.
The four-week extension ends on Thursday and the actor will surrender before court. He is likely to be lodged at the Yerwadi Jail in Pune, the same prison where Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab was hanged last year. Dutt, who has served18 months in jail, will return to serve the remaining three and a half years.
