Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian film actor and producer known for his work in Hindi cinema (Bollywood). He was educated at the famous Lawrence School Sanawar. The son of veteran Hindi film actors Sunil Dutt and Nargis Dutt, he made his acting debut in 1981 and has since appeared in more than 187 Hindi films. Although Dutt has enjoyed great success as a lead actor in genres ranging from romance to comedy, it has been the roles of gangsters, thugs and police officers in the drama and action genres that have won him much appreciation. The Indian media and audiences alike popularly refer to him as Deadly Dutt for his larger-than-life portrayals of such characters.
Bombay suffered a series of serial bombings in 1993. Dutt was among several people associated with Bollywood who were accused of involvement. Dutt was accused of accepting a delivery of weapons at his house from Abu Salem and co-accused Riyaz Siddiqui, who had also been implicated in relation to the Mumbai blasts.[22] It was claimed that the weapons formed a part of a large consignment of arms connected to the terrorists.[23]

In April 1993, he was arrested under the provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA).[23][24][25]Dutt was granted bail by the Supreme Court of India in October 1995 but was re-arrested in December 1995. He was again released on bail in April 1997.[26] The case came to court in 2006 and during the period of 2006–2007, Dutt spent seven months in Arthur Road Jailand Yerawada Jail in Pune on three occasions for the offences.[27]

2007–2009

Abdul Qayyum Abdul Karim Shaikh, who was thought to be a close aide of the terrorists' ringleader, Dawood Ibrahim, was arrested.[28]Dutt had given Qayuum's name to the police when confessing to arms possession, saying that in September 1992 he had bought a pistolfrom Qayuum in Dubai.[29]

On 31 July 2007, the TADA court sentenced Dutt to six years' rigorous imprisonment for illegal possession of weapons and cleared him of charges relating to the Mumbai blasts.[23][30] According to The Guardian, "The actor claimed he feared for his life after the notorious "Black Friday" bombings, which were allegedly staged by Mumbai's Muslim-dominated mafia in retaliation for deadly Hindu-Muslim clashes a few months earlier. But the judge rejected this defence and also refused bail."[30] Dutt was returned to jail at Arthur Road and soon after moved to the Yerwada Central Jail in Pune.[23][31]

Dutt appealed against the sentence[32] and was granted interim bail on 20 August 2007 until such time as the TADA court provided him with a copy of its judgement.[33] On 22 October 2007 Dutt was back in jail but again applied for bail. On 27 November 2007, Dutt was granted bail by the Supreme Court.[34] On 21 March 2013 the Supreme Court upheld the verdict of the TADA court but shortened the sentence to five years' imprisonment. Dutt was given a month to surrender before the authorities.[35]

Dutt has said that "I am not a politician but I belong to a political family."[36] He was persuaded by a close friend to contest the 2009 Lok Sabha elections as a candidate for the Samajwadi Party but withdrew when the court refused to suspend his conviction.[37]He was then appointed General Secretary of the party, leaving that post in December 2010.[38]

Re-imprisonment and release

In March 2013 the Supreme Court upheld Dutt's five-year sentence, 18 months of which he already spent in jail during the trial.[39] He was given four weeks to surrender to the authorities, the court having refused to release him on probation due to the severity of the offence.[40]

With analysts believing that his imprisonment would have a significant impact on the fortunes of Bollywood, people from the movie business made statements of support following the ruling and some said that they would be making appeals for him to be pardoned.[41][42] On 10 May, the Supreme Court rejected Dutt's review petition for the reconsideration of his conviction and asked him to surrender on the stipulated date.[43][44]On 13 May, the Supreme Court rejected appeals filed by two film producers who were seeking more time for the actor to surrender so that he could complete two of his under-production films.[45] On 14 May, Dutt withdrew the mercy plea and surrendered to the Mumbai Police on 16 May 2013.[46][47] Just before the surrender, the Mumbai jail authority got an anonymous letter threatening Dutt's life. Dutt filed an appeal to allow him to surrender before Yerwada Central Jail. Later, Dutt withdrew this request too.[48] Dutt subsequently surrendered in court as ordered.[49][50] He was paroled from 21 December 2013. The parole was extended three times until March 2014, raising concern in Bombay High Court and a proposal from the Government of Maharashtra to amend the law of parole. He returned to Yerwada prison after his parole ended.[51] Dutt was out on a two weeks' furlough granted by the Yerwada Central Jail autho