Sanjay Dutt on his 5-year jail term: ‘The mistakes were mine’

Sanjay Dutt has opened up about the 1993 firearms case that changed the course of his life, admitting he ignored a clear inner warning and paid for it with years of legal battles and prison time. Speaking to Shekhar Suman on Shekhar Tonite, the actor returned to the arrest that began during the investigation into the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

The warning he did not follow

Dutt said he was arrested in April 1993 for possessing illegal weapons, including an AK-56 rifle, a pistol and ammunition. Looking back, he admitted he had talked himself into holding onto the weapons for a week.

He said, “The mistakes were mine.” His heart had told him not to go ahead, but his mind had reasoned there was little harm in keeping them for a week. He also said he had not grasped how severe the legal consequences could be, and that everyone should know the laws of the country they live in.

Staying strong for Sunil Dutt

The conversation also revisited an early moment in the case, when police handcuffed him in front of his father, actor and politician Sunil Dutt. The elder Dutt was stunned and tearful, asking police what they were doing with his son.

Sanjay Dutt recalled hugging him and telling him the handcuffs were only a procedure, even though he said it was tearing him apart inside. He said he had to stay strong for his father, and that he carried that strength through a trial he says lasted 24 years.

Prison, survival and a bidi

Dutt also spoke about life behind bars, where some officials expected the film star to struggle without his usual comforts. When one officer mocked him and said he would not get cigarettes in jail, Dutt said he replied that he could at least get a bidi. He said the changes did not break him, and his calm seemed to unsettle those who expected him to fall apart.

A long legal road

The legal timeline puts that prison stretch in perspective.

• April 1993: Dutt was arrested for illegal possession of firearms.
• November 2006: A special court convicted him under the Arms Act but acquitted him of TADA charges.
• March 2013: The Supreme Court upheld the conviction and reduced his sentence from six years to five.
• February 2016: He was released from Yerawada Central Jail after remission for good conduct.

For fans, Dutt’s comments are less about re-litigating a decades-old case than about a star finally naming the personal cost: a father’s shock, a long trial and a prison term he chose to survive with stubborn calm. The actor’s own framing is simple: listen to the inner voice before it is too late.

Source: The Times of India