If Sanjay is barred,SP to field Manyata

“Manyata Dutt could be the SP candidate from Lucknow in place of Sanjay Dutt. We are,however,confident that he will get permission from the court,” said Rajendra Chowdhary,SP spokesman. It’s the parliamentary board of the party,which will finally take the decision on the issue.

Magsaysay award winner and noted social worker Sandeep Pandey had filed a PIL in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking rejection of Dutt’s plea.

On Thursday,Pandey said it would set a wrong precedent if Dutt was allowed to contest. “When the court had denied permission to Babloo,Amarmani and Mukhtar and even Sahabuddin,why should Dutt be allowed to contest?” he said. Another petition filed by one Alok Sharan last week has been listed for hearing on Friday. On March 20,an Aurangabad-based advocate had also filed a PIL in the Supreme Court. Senior counsel Harjout Singh,who filed the PILs of Pandey and Alok Sharan,said they have questioned Dutt’s argument that he should be allowed to contest elections,because the court had allowed BJP parliamentarian and cricketer Navjot Singh Siddhu to contest. “Everyone should not be given advantage like Siddhu. He had resigned on moral grounds and again got elected after he was convicted,” he said. Quoting the verdict of the constitutional benches of the apex court in the B R Kapoor case of 2001 and K Prabhakaran case in 2005,the Counsel said in both cases,a five-judge bench had given the ruling that no convicted person can contest the elections. “We are now looking up to the Supreme Court,” he said. The Supreme Court’s decision will hold significance on the fate of politicians convicted by courts or serving jail terms.

Dutt was arrested by the CBI in 1993 in the Mumbai serial bomb blasts case and was charged with illegal possession of arms and ammunitions. He was convicted under provisions of Arms Act,sentenced to six years of RI and slapped a fine of Rs 25,000. He was released on bail but his sentence was not suspended by the Supreme Court. The disqualification contemplated under Section 8 of the RPA is applicable to him,said the Counsel.

CBI not to oppose Dutt’s plea
NEW DELHI: The CBI officials have said they are not going to oppose Sanjay Dutt’s plea seeking to contest the election and would leave the decision to the Supreme Court. “The CBI has got a notice from the Supreme Court and we will reply to it after taking legal opinion,” CBI Director Ashwini Kumar had said earlier in the day. “I can’t share anything right now as the model code of conduct is in place. All aspects will be looked into,” Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of a conference at Vigyan Bhawan.