Mumbai:
A pardon plea for actor Sanjay Dutt by Member of Parliament Jaya Prada and former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh was forwarded by the Maharashtra Governor to the state home department seeking its opinion on March 28, a Raj Bhawan spokesperson said today. On Tuesday, Ms Prada and Mr Singh had met Governor K Sankaranarayanan requesting him to pardon Mr Dutt who has been sentenced to five years in prison by the Supreme Court in a case linked to the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai.
Requesting pardon for the actor, Mr Singh had said both the trial court and the Supreme Court had ruled that Mr Dutt was not a terrorist; he alleged a media trial against the actor. "It has been 20 years. He has two children. Now he talks about Gandhi," Mr Singh had said, who had mentored Mr Dutt's political career when he briefly joined the Samajwadi Party.
Mr Dutt was convicted by the Supreme Court earlier this month for illegally possessing weapons, including an AK-56 rifle. He is out on bail since 2007; the court says he should return to jail within four weeks.
It was Justice Markandey Katju, chairman of the Press Council of India, who first made an appeal to the Governor for Mr Dutt, saying Article 161 of the Constitution gave him the right to pardon a convict. Justice Katju on Thursday also sent a written appeal to the President of India seeking pardon.
Eight other appeals have also been made to the Governor seeking pardon for Mr Dutt. They are all from citizens, including one from Singapore.
Meanwhile, Mr Dutt on Thursday had said that he had not applied for a pardon and would abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. He had said there were many others who deserved a pardon more than him.