Legal experts against Dutt-campaign

NEW DELHI: Even as a section of Bollywood and the ruling Congress stepped up their campaign to secure an early release for incarcerated film actor Sanjay Dutt on the ground that he had been dealt with in a rather harsh manner, the legal community stepped in on Sunday by sounding a note of caution against the entire exercise.

Former attorney general Soli Sorabjee on Sunday came out in support of the sentence awarded to the popular film star, while Mr Ujjwal Nikam, the special public prosecutor in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, described the campaign as “unfair” and one which was aimed at subverting the country’s judicial system. He warned that the campaign launched against the sentence could come under the ambit of “contempt of courts”.

“Because Sanjay is a popular star, a very important personality, his sister (Priya Dutt) is an MP and Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi, Kapil Sibal are speaking in his favour, no signal should go to the people that it is a celebrity justice delivery system,’’ Mr Sorabjee said during the course of an interview to a news channel.

The eminent jurist viewed as “inappropriate” the Union I&B minister’s assertion questioning the correctness of the judgement, and justified the punishment awarded to the actor arguing that “he didn’t have a toy gun, he didn’t have an airgun, this is a serious offence...”

He also felt that all the hoopla and the media hype in support of the campaign could backfire, even though there were good grounds for the Supreme Court to grant expeditious bail. “The media hype could be counter-productive,” he said.

“It’s not in favour of Sanjay, his friends are not doing him any good. People are getting put off by this. Why all this in case of one person, what about others who are rotting in jails?” the senior Supreme Court lawyer contended.

Responding to a question on public opinion which felt that the sentence was excessive and unfair, the former attorney general said, “If public opinion is misinformed, I will ignore it.”

“Does the public know that the minimum sentence is five years and it cannot be reduced? Judge Kode would have committed an illegality if he had given him three years,” Mr Sorabjee said.
He outrightly dismissed charges suggesting that the special Tada judge was “misdirected” or “miscarried” in sentencing Sanjay Dutt to six years. “By the way, Sanjay is in one way fortunate. If he would have been convicted under Tada, there would have been great problems,” the veteran lawyer maintained.

“In a way the, judge was a bit lenient towards him, the way he kept on adjourning the matter, not pronouncing the verdict and various other things,” Mr Sorabjee observed.

However, he said if he had been the judge in Mr Kode’s place, he would have awarded a combination of rigorous and simple imprisonment. “If I had been a judge, I would have given simple imprisonment for half the period and rigorous for the other half,” he said. “You may tamper justice by mercy, but not by sentiments; not by what Bollywood says,” he said — a view which was endorsed in Mumbai by the special public prosecutor in the case.

“This type of campaign is unfair. This shakes the confidence of the common man in the judiciary and is an indirect attempt at influencing the court of law,” Mr Nikam asserted.

“There are still remedies left open to the convicted prisoner,” he told a news agency. He decried efforts mounted by a section of the film industry and the media to run down the judicial verdict. “If someone starts such a campaign criticising the order of the court (before the prisoner seeks relief), it certainly amounts to contempt of court. I am watching the events carefully and if this continues, I will be forced to take legal action,” Mr Nikam warned.

He criticised the role of TV channels in the matter, saying, “The way they are running polls and interviews, romanticising the prisoner, is ridiculous. Why isn’t Bollywood shedding tears for the victims of the bomb blasts?” he wondered.