Amar Singh's letter seeking pardon for Sanjay Dutt sent to Maharashtra Home Department

MUMBAI: Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan forwarded expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh's letter, seeking pardon for Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, to the state Home Department on March 28, a Raj Bhawan spokesperson said today.

On March 26, Singh and Jayaprada had met the Governor to seek pardon for Dutt, who already served 18 months, after being sentenced to five years' imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, he said.

Actress-turned politician Jayaprada had said, "He (Dutt) is an innocent person. It is very unfortunate. Knowingly or unknowingly, it has been written in his fate that he has to struggle like this. If you see the background of his family, his father Sunil Dutt was in politics and had a very good name. Perhaps, innocently he has done something".

Significantly, Amar Singh and Jayaprada had met Dutt at his Bandra residence before they met the Governor at Raj Bhawan.

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

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.