Shiv Sena says pardoning Sanjay Dutt will set wrong example
"There is no need for a rethink on the Supreme Court judgment. If Dutt is given a pardon, it will send a wrong message to society," said Shiv Sena legislator Neelan Gorhe, while speaking on a debate in the legislative council on the law and order situation in Maharashtra.
She said leaders from various political parties have demanded that Dutt be pardoned.
"However, if leniency is shown to Dutt, it would be tantamount to providing a political cover to convicts," Gorhe argued.
Her assertions came in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict March 19 which upheld Dutt's conviction for illegal possession of prohibited weapons like an AK-56 assault rifle and a revolver and sentenced him to five years in jail.
It is a known fact Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray came out in support of Sanjay Dutt, declaring publicly he did not believe that any member of the Dutt family could be anti-national.
Sanjay's father Sunil Dutt had to turn to Bal Thackeray for help after the actor was sent to jail under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act.
Interestingly, the Dutts have been very close to the Thackeray family. The late actor-turned -politician Sunil Dutt and late Sena supremo Bal Thackeray enjoyed a strong personal rapport despite differing political backgrounds.
In 2007, the actor was cleared of conspiracy charges in the Mumbai serial blasts but was found guilty of illegal possession of an AK-56 rifle and a pistol and sentenced to six years.
During his trial he claimed the weapons were to protect him and his family during a period of rioting in Mumbai.
Dutt was the most high-profile of 100 people involved in the Mumbai bombings trial which ended with 12 people receiving the death penalty and 20 others given life sentences.
Dutt also had political ambitions.
But in 2009, the Supreme Court refused to suspend his conviction so that he could contest the national elections on a ticket for the Samajwadi Party.
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