By IANS
New Delhi : Hundreds of Sanjay Dutt fans are registering their support for the Bollywood star on the Internet by launching an online petition.
‘Support Sanjay Dutt’, as the campaign is called, already has over 1,000 people who have signed up to seek a more lenient sentence for the actor sentenced to six years in jail. Hailing from across the globe, all fans are voicing similar sentiments – that Sanjay has already suffered a lot and deserves probation.
Says Merlin, one of petitioners: “Jail is only for hardened criminals. Instead, give him social and community work like other countries do for public figures, such as fund raising for worthy causes.”
Raj Bhatia, a fan from the US signed up saying, “Sanjay has suffered enough for 14 years. You can penalise him monetarily but please put him on probation. India has always been a beacon of morals, traditions and legends.”
In all the pleas and requests that are going up on the website with increased frequency, it seemed evident that Sanjay’s role in the film “Lage Raho Munnabhai”, where he preaches Gandhigiri or following Gandhi’s principles, has had a huge impact on his fans.
One fan suggests that Sanjay should instead be asked to build a hospital and offer free treatment for six years. This, according to the petitioner, would be a more constructive way of punishing him than a six-year jail term.
Apart from this online petition on www.boletoh.com, fans have also started using the medium of SMS to voice their support for the actor.
But public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam is not too happy with this move.
“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,” Nikam said.
But Sanjay’s loyal fans don’t seem to be deterred by anything and are signing the petition in large numbers.
The actor was sentenced to six years’ rigorous imprisonment for being in possession of “dangerous weapons” in the 1993 Mumbai bombings case last week.
He was also fined Rs.25,000 by the special anti-terror TADA court, conducting the trial into the serial blasts that killed 257 people and injured many hundreds.