Amid
the
growing
clamour
for
considering
a
pardon
for
convicted
Bollywood
actor
Sanjay
Dutt,
the
Shiv
Sena
Monday
opposed
the
move
on
the
grounds
that
it
would
send
"a
wrong
message" to
society.
"There
is
no
need
for
a
rethink
on
the
Supreme
Court
judgement.
If
Dutt
is
given
a
pardon,
it
will
send
a
wrong
message
to
society," said
Shiv
Sena
legislator
Neelan
Gorhe,
while
speaking
on
a
debate
in
the
legislative
council
on
the
law
and
order
situation
in
Maharashtra.
She
said
leaders
from
various
political
parties
have
demanded
that
Dutt
be
pardoned.
"However,
if
leniency
is
shown
to
Dutt,
it
would
be
tantamount
to
providing
a
political
cover
to
convicts,"
Gorhe
argued.
Her
assertions
came
in
the
wake
of
the
Supreme
Court
verdict
March
19
which
upheld
Dutt's
conviction
for
illegal
possession
of
prohibited
weapons
like
an
AK-56
assault
rifle
and
a
revolver
and
sentenced
him
to
five
years
in
jail.
Following
the
judgement,
various
film
personalities,
politicians
cutting
across
parties
appealed
to
the
Maharashtra
government
to
initiate
proceedings
to
enable
Dutt
to
get
a
pardon
from
the
state
governor.
Interestingly,
the
Dutts
have
been
very
close
to
the
Thackeray
family.
The
late
actor-turned-politician
Sunil
Dutt
and
late
Sena
supremo
Bal
Thackeray
enjoyed
a
strong
personal
rapport
despite
differing
political
backgrounds.
IANS