Amar Singh, Jaya Prada to meet Maharashtra Governor to seek pardon for Sanjay Dutt

MUMBAI: Expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and Lok Sabha MP from Rampur Jaya Prada have sought an appointment with Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan tomorrow, apparently to seek pardon for actor Sanjay Dutt.

Dutt, who has already undergone imprisonment of 18 months, was on Thursday sentenced to five years imprisonment in Mumbai serial blasts case.

"Amar Singh and Jaya Prada have sought appointment with the Governor on Sanjay Dutt issue tomorrow," a Raj Bhawan spokesperson told PTI today.

The meeting may take place at 6:45 pm tomorrow, he said.

Amar Singh has been close to Dutt and was his mentor when the actor briefly dabbled in politics.

Earlier, several celebrities including Press Council of India Chairman Markandey Katju and actor-turned-politicians Jaya Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha had sought pardon for Dutt.

"He (Dutt) has already been punished enough. Twenty years is almost like life imprisonment. I mean he suffered for twenty years and I think to do this to him at this time..... I am going to personally meet the Governor," Bachchan had told reporters outside Parliament House recently.

Sinha had joined Katju in appealing to the Maharashtra Governor to pardon Dutt after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.

In a statement on Thursday, Katju had sought pardon for Dutt under Article 161 of the Constitution saying that he had not been found guilty of having played a role in the 1993 blasts and had suffered a lot.