Shiv Sena opposes pardoning Sanjay Dutt

Bal Thackeray had supported the actor earlier

The saffron party, Shiv Sena has taken a u turn on pardoning Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. Instead, the party said that it will oppose any such move. Sena leader and legislator Neelam Gorhe on Monday at the state legislature asserted that pardoning Sanjay Dutt will send the wrong message. The apex court found the actor guilty of acquiring illegal weapons from those blamed for the bombings in Mumbai that killed 257 people and was given four weeks to surrender.

It is a surprising turn considering it was late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray who supported Sanjay Dutt in the case initially. Sena's reversal comes at a time when various parties and leaders were coming in an open to press for Dutt's acquittal.

It is no secret that in 1993-94, then Congress MP Sunil Dutt, Sanjay's father, had to turn to Bal Thackeray, chief of the rival Shiv Sena, to ensure that his actor son got some relief after he was arrested and jailed under the stringent Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act also known as TADA for possessing illegal weapons.

Incidentally, both Sunil Dutt and Thackeray are no longer alive. After Sunil Dutt went to Bal Thackeray for help, the latter even called up then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao to lobby for the actor-politician's son.. This led to the setting up of a committee to look into TADA cases. The committee had recommended bail for Sanjay Dutt then.

On Sunday, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had called for pardoning Dutt. "Sanjay Dutt is not a criminal. He is not a terrorist. The atmosphere was bad in 1993 and he reacted to it like any child would. He made a mistake and paid the price for it by going to jail for 18 months," Digvijaya Singh had said.

On Saturday, Chairman of Press Council of India Justice Markandey Katju said Dutt should be pardoned and that he will meet the Maharashtra Chief Minister on the issue. Speaking to CNN-IBN, Justice Katju had said, "I am not questioning the Supreme Court verdict. I have sent an appeal to the Governor requesting him to pardon Sanjay Dutt and I have said this on humanitarian reasons."

However, senior RSS leader MG Vaidya is against any leniency towards the actor. "It is a serious offence. He should not be pardoned," said Vaidya.