Amar Singh, Jaya Prada seek pardon for Sanjay Dutt

Expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh and Lok Sabha Member of Parliament from Rampur Jaya Prada on Tuesday met Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan to seek pardon for actor Sanjay Dutt.

Dutt, who has already spent 18 months behind bars, was on Thursday sentenced to five years imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

"Amar Singh and Jaya Prada met the governor this evening," a Raj Bhavan spokesperson said.

Before arriving at Raj Bhavan, the duo drove to the Bandra residence of Sanjay Dutt and met the actor.

Actor-turned-politician Jaya Prada had earlier said she was "heart broken" at the news of Dutt's jail term, which was pronounced by the Supreme Court, and called him an "innocent person”.

"He 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. His father Sunil Dutt served the country a lot. And knowing his nature and character as a great father, his son, innocently maybe, has done something," Jaya Prada had said.

Amar Singh has been close to Dutt and was his mentor when the actor briefly dabbled in politics.

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

Sinha had joined Katju in appealing to the Maharashtra governor to pardon Dutt, after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.

Katju has sought pardon for Dutt under Article 161 of the Constitution, saying he had not been found guilty of having played a role in the 1993 blasts and had already suffered a lot.