New Delhi, Aug 26 (NDTV): Actor Sanjay Dutt has been allowed to leave prison for a month because his daughter, Trishala, is going through a nose surgery. His frequent breaks from jail have been criticised in the past as evidence of VIP treatment.

Mr Dutt, 56, was found guilty in 2013 of acquiring illegal weapons from those involved in the deadly 1993 attacks in Mumbai in which 257 people were killed, and hundreds injured.

Mr Dutt was sentenced to six years in jail in 2007; he served 18 months but then was out on bail, fighting the conviction until a court in March 2013 ordered him back to jail in Pune.

In 2007, Mr Dutt was cleared of conspiracy charges in the attacks but found guilty of illegal possession of an AK-56 rifle and a pistol, which he claimed he required to protect himself and his family during the rioting that erupted in Mumbai after a series of bombs exploded at the city's landmarks.

Mr Dutt is married to Manyata; his daughter Trishala is from an earlier marriage to Richa Sharma who died in 1996 of brain cancer.