The ongoing clamour in various quarters for remission in sentence for Sanjay Dutt in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case took a formal shape on Tuesday evening, as former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and MP from Rampur Jaya Prada met Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan and sought pardon for the actor under Article 161 of the Constitution.
Talking to mediapersons after meeting the Governor and making a strong case for remission or suspension in punishment to his long-time friend Sanjay, Singh lamented that Sanjay Dutt was being subjected to an intense media trial, despite the fact that the trial court and Supreme Court have acquitted the actor the terror charge.
“The trial court and Supreme Court have acquitted Sanjay Dutt of the terror charges (framed against him in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case). The ongoing media trial against the actor goes against the very verdict of the trial court and supreme court,” Singh said.
“This country is governed by rule of law. When the trial court and Supreme court have acquitted Sanjay Dutt of the terror charge, all of us -including the media and opinion makers - have to respect the verdict. Under the Constitution, the Governor and President have powers to pardon a convicted person,” Singh said, adding that he and Jaya Prada had met the Governor to seek
pardon for Sanjay.
In her memorandum to the Governor, Jaya Prada stated: “Sanjay Dutt is absolved of the terrorism charges by the trial court and Supreme Court. The only pending charge against him is of possessing illegal arms for which the minimum sentence is 5 fives, probably this is the reason that Hon’ble Supreme court has reduced his 6 years sentence to five years, which after deducting his time already served in prison during trial, will get reduced to 3 years and 5 months”.
To buttress their case in favour of Sanjay, Jaya Prada and Singh submitted a letter written addressed to former President Pratibha Patil by the Wardha-based Sevagram Ashram Pratishtan. They said that the letter clearly appreciated the fact that through his cinematic art, Sanjay had propagated the message of Gandhism “which has had visible influence on the life our young generation”.
“It is only appropriate that he should be granted pardon an get freedom from the suffering of this ordeal which he is going through for the 20 years,” Jaya Prada stated in her memorandum.
She also referred to the contributions made Sanjay’s late father Sunil Dutt and actress mother Nargis to the society. She stated that Press Council of India chief Justice Markandey Katju, Shatrughan Sinha of the BJP and many other eminent people in the country held the same view as she and Singh did.
She appealed to the Governor to exercise his discretionary powers of granting amnesty to Sanjay, “considering his background, contribution to the field of cinema and his good conduct for the past 20 years.
Before going to Raj Bhavan to meet the Governor, Singh and Jaya Prada met Sanjay at his Bandra residence in north-west Mumbai.