Mumbai/New Delhi, May 14
Citing threat to his life from fundamentalists, Sanjay Dutt today sought permission from a TADA court to surrender in jail even as the Supreme Court refused to grant the Bollywood star time beyond May 16 to give himself up.

Dutt, 53, filed an application before special TADA Judge GA Sanap in Mumbai seeking permission to surrender before Pune’s Yerwada Jail authorities in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case instead of giving himself up before the special Mumbai court.

Dutt, whose conviction under the Arms Act was upheld by the Supreme Court recently, is supposed to surrender before May 16.

The actor filed the application in the TADA court hours after the Supreme Court refused to grant him additional time to surrender for undergoing the remaining 42-month jail term. "The applicant (Dutt) is facing threat to life from fundamentalist groups and those with vested interests," the application said.

It further said the actor wanted to avoid a situation of the past when mediapersons and camerapersons had chased his vehicle from Mumbai to Pune last time he was taken to jail after the TADA court convicted him. "Media vehicles had chased the applicant's vehicle for 120 kilometres in the past," the application said.

Judge Sanap asked the prosecuting agency CBI to file a reply and posted the hearing on Dutt's plea tomorrow.

A vacation Bench of the apex court comprising Justices BS Chauhan and Dipak Misra today refused to consider a film producer’s plea for granting more time to the actor to enable him to fulfill his shooting commitments.

On April 17, an SC Bench of Justices P Sathasivam and BS Chauhan granted four more weeks to Dutt for his surrender by May 16. Dutt had approached the SC seeking six months to complete his acting commitments involving seven movies and an investment of over Rs 278 crore. “We are not inclined to extend the time by six months. However, we extend the time by four weeks from tomorrow. It is made clear that no further extension will be granted,” it said in the order.

A trial court set up under the TADA had cleared him of the charges of his role in the 1993 serial blasts at 13 locations in Mumbai in which over 250 people were killed and more than 700 injured.