Granting Sanjay Dutt remission will set bad precedent: Gopinath Munde

JALNA: Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde today said he was opposed to granting any remission to actor Sanjay Dutt, whose conviction in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts was recently upheld by the Supreme Court.

"Granting any remission to Sanjay Dutt would set a bad precedent. Sanjay Dutt should not be pardoned simply because he is a celebrity", Munde said addressing a function here.

Dutt would have to undergo nearly three-and-a-half-years in jail after the apex court ruled against granting any probation to the actor found guilty of illegal possession of arms during the blasts.

Munde also condemned the recent attack on a police officer by a section of MLAs in the Vidhan Bhavan premises in Mumbai.

On severe drought, Munde alleged that the state government was meeting out step-motherly treatment to Marathwada facing the worst drought in decades.

He appealed to public representatives cutting across party lines to bury their differences and fight in unison for the plight of Marathwada.

"The state government has failed to get sufficient funds to tackle the drought as a result of which people are migrating from the region", he said, while appealing to industrialists and social organisations to come forward to extend helping hand to the affected people.

Munde also criticised the move by both houses of Maharashtra Legislature of admitting privilege motions against two senior journalists.

"Instead of personal interest, elected representatives should work in the public interest", he said.

The privilege motion against the two scribes--Nikhil Wagle, chief editor of IBN Lokmat, and Raju Khandekar, Chief Editor of ABP Majha--pertains to the coverage by these two Marathi channels of the recent assault on a police officer in the premises of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly allegedly by some MLAs.