Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh mouthpiece Panchjanya on Saturday criticised the ‘hue and cry’ about the jail sentence to actor Sanjay Dutt under the Arms Act in the 1993 Mumbai terror blast case and said he actually got away with a light punishment.
"On one hand there are family members of the victims who are looking for lines in the verdict that would cool their anger which has been simmering for the last two decades. On the other hand are those who are crying for the star…that he has two small kids and hundreds of crores are at stake in Bollywood," Panchjanya says in the editorial of its edition that hit the stands on Saturday.
It urges that the "shameless" mulling on this issue should now end. The article points out that hundreds of children lost their fathers and the future of thousands of families were put at stake due to the Mumbai blasts, yet there are those who continue to bat for Dutt.
"I am not an advocate but I can tell how much justice is there in this verdict. But Sanju, it is clearly visible that you got away lightly," says the edit writer.
The article states that those who were involved in the conspiracy to attack the financial capital of the country have already got several concessions. They got an opportunity to put up their case through lawyers for the last twenty years.
It says Dutt is lucky that he lives in India.
Panchjanya insists that the case against Dutt is not just about keeping an unlicensed country made gun but also about possessing three automatic AK-56 rifles from Dawood Ibrahim's men.
"The explosives which terrorised Mumbai were hidden in his house. Had a common man played this role, would the same leniency been expected for him? Is it a minor thing that despite this, he got relief from TADA," the editorial said.
Dutt's five-year sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court on Thursday in an arms case related to the 1993 Mumbai blasts.
