SC grants Sanjay Dutt permission to travel abroad for shooting

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today gave permission to Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, convicted in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, to travel abroad for film shooting.A bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and B S Chauhan granted Dutt`s plea for extending his stay abroad till December 31, 2010, and asked the CBI to release his passport for the purpose.

He was, however, asked to desposit his passport back with the investigating agency on his return. The court hall burst into a laughter when in response to a query from the bench senior counsel Mukul Rohtagi submitted that one of the films starring Dutt was titled "Double Dhamal" which will be shot in Europe and South Africa. Besides, Europe and South Africa, Dutt intends to visit the US and Thailand for the shooting. The apex court had earlier in November last year granted the actor a similar relief for his shooting schedule abroad. Dutt, who was convicted and sentenced to six years imprisonment under the Arms Act for illegally possessing weapons in connection with 1993 Mumbai blasts case, was earlier granted bail after he filed an appeal against the verdict of the TADA court. He was, however, absolved of the serious offence under TADA. While granting bail to the actor on November 27 2007, the court had directed him to surrender his passport and asked him not to leave the country without its permission. The Bollywood star, who was sentenced in July 2007, had spent 18 months in jail during the pendency of the trial. Under the rules, the actor has to take the permission of the apex court before leaving the country. The court has admitted his appeal against the conviction. The apex court had earlier turned down his plea for staying the conviction to enable him contest the last Lok Sabha Elections from Lucknow on a Samajwadi Party ticket. PTI