The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

NEWS AND VIEWS

PUNJAB

HARYANA

JAMMU & KASHMIR

HIMACHAL

REGIONAL BRIEFS

NATION

OPINIONS

MAILBAG

BUSINESS

SPORTS

WORLD

SPECIAL COVERAGE

CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

M A I N N E W S

Munna has Telgi for company in Gandhi’s jail
Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service

Priya calls on Sonia
Anita Katyal
Tribune News Service

Priya Dutt, Congress MP and sister of actor Sanjay Dutt, leaves after meeting Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Friday. — PTI

New Delhi, August 3
Congress MP and jailed Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt’s sister Priya Dutt called on party president Sonia Gandhi to apprise her about her brother’s case and also lobby support for him. Priya, who arrived here from Mumbai today, is also consulting legal experts on approaching the apex court to challenge the TADA court’s order.

Talking to mediapersons, Priya Dutt said her family was going through trying times and her first priority was get relief for her brother at the earliest. Declining to divulge any details about her meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Priya Dutt merely said she had informed the Congress president about the case.

Although the family wants to move the apex court at the earliest with a bail application, legal experts are learnt to have said this may only be possible on scrutiny of the TADA court’s detailed order, which is not expected till this month-end. The Congress finds itself in a dilemma on this case, as it would not like to give out message that it is influencing the judiciary.

Mumbai, August 3
Actor Sanjay Dutt, who was moved to the historic Yerwada Central Jail in Pune on Thursday to serve his jail sentence, will be sharing the company of master forger Abdul Karim Telgi. The jail is known for hosting a number of stalwarts from modern Indian history like Lokmanya Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi.

However, the jail is known for the long sentence served by the Father of the Nation during the British Raj. It was here that an NGO, Sahyog Trust, first implemented the idea of inculcating Gandhian thought among prison inmates.

Those imprisoned in this jail read and study the Gandhian thought and take an examination, Gandhi Vichar Pariksha, at the end of a year. Those successful at the examination are allowed commutation of their sentences depending on the gravity of their offences.

Incidentally, in his latest hit ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ Sanjay Dutt is shown transforming from a hoodlum to a reformed character after studying the Gandhian thought.

It is still not clear if Sanjay Dutt will take this course, which is optional for inmates, in real life as well. Asim Sarode, an office-bearer of the Sahyog Trust, told local media outlets that they would be pleased to have Sanjay Dutt as a student.

Sanjay Dutt was shifted to the Yerwada Jail from Mumbai’s Arthur Road jail yesterday.

He was lodged in a special cell before the authorities decided on a more permanent accommodation for him. His companion in the next cell is Telgi, who is lodged under high security.

The routine is tougher at Yerwada, where convicts come to serve their sentences. Wake up is at 5.30 am. After prayers and exercises convicts are put to work.

It is still not clear what work Sanjay Dutt was assigned, though reports from Pune said he would have to take an aptitude test first.

Inmates are assigned the prison kitchen or put to work cleaning the premises, carpentry, tailoring, etc. Convicts also do leather work, weaving, etc.

Yerwada is known for churning out good leather work and handicrafts.

Kolhapuri chappals produced from this jail are sold in the markets via various outlets.

For their work, prisoners are paid a daily wage. Prisoners may either spend the money in the prison canteen or take their collections with them when they leave jail to start a new life.