Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao has rejected the appeal to waive off the remaining jail term of actor Sanjay Dutt, convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
The rejection came after the Home department forwarded its view to the Governor’s office saying that giving such a pardon would set “a wrong precedent.”
The Governor received the file on September 8 and signed it on September 15 endorsing the State’s view recommending turning down the plea.
In 2013, former Supreme Court judge and former Press Council of India (PCI) chief Markandey Katju appealed to the then Maharashtra Governor K. Sankaranarayanan seeking pardon for the actor. Mr. Katju’s plea came after the apex court upheld Sanjay Dutt’s sentence of five-year imprisonment given by a TADA court in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.
Mr. Katju argued that the only charge against shim was that of possessing a prohibited weapon without a licence, which was a lesser offence than murder and the Supreme Court had awarded him the minimum imprisonment under law.
Mr. Katju had also sought pardon for Zaibunnisa Kazi, another convict in the 1993 blasts case.
The 56-year-old actor was sentenced to six-year imprisonment in 2007, which included the 18 months he had already spent in jail before walking out on bail in 1995. He was therefore supposed to spend the remaining 42 months in jail.
The Home Department said that a pardon to Sanjay Dutt would set ‘a wrong precedent’.
