I won’t seek pardon: Sanjay Dutt

Agencies/Mumbai

Supporters had been urging Dutt to seek a pardon, after the Supreme Court last week struck down his appeal and sentenced him to five years for possessing firearms supplied by gangland bosses, who staged the string of bombings that killed 257 people.

But in an emotional press conference, Dutt, whose late parents were two of India’s biggest film stars, said he would accept his fate and surrender to prison authorities before a deadline expires in three weeks’ time.

“I have the highest respect for the Supreme Court and its decision. I have not applied for any pardon,” said Dutt.

“I am a shattered man, my family is shattered. These are tough times in my life,” Dutt told reporters in Mumbai while frequently breaking down in tears.

Dutt requested the media and well-wishers to leave him “in peace” in his final days before returning to prison.

“I have a lot of work, I have to finish all that work. I have to spend all this time with my family, so I, with folded hands, tell you all that just let me be in peace till the time I go in,” he said.

“I will surrender,” he said, afterwards hugging his sister and politician Priya Dutt, who was among the family members with him.

Dutt has already served 18 months of his sentence but was released on bail while his case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which reduced his sentence from six years to five last Thursday.

Dutt was acquitted in 2007 of conspiracy charges over the blasts staged by Mumbai’s criminal world.

The bombings across the city were seen as retaliation for religious rioting in which mainly Muslims died following the razing of the ancient Babri mosque in Ayodhya.

But Dutt was found guilty of possession of an automatic rifle and a pistol which he insisted in his defence were only meant to protect his family because of the highly charged atmosphere in Mumbai following the mosque’s destruction.

Messages of sympathy and solidarity have poured in for the star since the Supreme Court verdict that brought down the curtain on the two-decades-old Mumbai blasts trial, in which 100 people were tried.

Some Rs2.5bn ($45mn) are riding on Dutt in Bollywood, with four or five films in the pipeline, analysts estimate.

The actor has four films in the pipeline, including Peekay, Policegiri, Unglee and a remake of Zanjeer. 

The actor was at the Kamalistan studio yesterday to shoot for Policegiri.

T P Aggarwal, producer of Policegiri, said: “Sanjay Dutt is shooting since morning at Kamalistan Studio for an action sequence. This is a long sequence, which will continue for two more days here. We have almost finished shooting, but eight to 10 days’ shoot has been left. We will finish Sanjay’s portion.”

According to reports, Dutt will be working in four shifts to finish his professional commitments.

According to a source, the makers of his other films are planning to put up their sets at Filmcity to make things easier for the actor.

Aggarwal said: “I don’t know where we will be put up for rest of the shoot, but for sure in some studio.”

Several high-profile figures have called for Maharashtra’s governor to reduce Dutt’s term on humanitarian grounds, noting the man alleged to have masterminded the plot, underworld boss Dawood Ibrahim, is still at large.

Press Council of India chairman Markandey Katju- a former Supreme Court judge and one of the loudest voices championing Dutt - said he will still seek a pardon for the actor.

Dutt’s statement “makes no difference to me. I am going to apply for pardon,” Katju told said.

Several members of film fraternity and some politicians too spoke in Dutt’s support.

Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and actor-turned politician Jaya Prada on Tuesday met Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan.

But others have said Dutt should not be let off because he is rich and influential.

“Justice is about laws and evidence,” Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief of The Indian Express, wrote in a recent column.

The actor shot to fame in the mid-1980s in a string of action movies in which he performed his own stunts, earning him the nickname “Deadly Dutt.”

He is best known for playing a mobster with a heart of gold in the popular Munnabhai series.

Dutt’s first wife died of cancer while his second marriage, to a model, ended in divorce. He wed for a third time in 2008 and has two young children.