Who is Sanjay Dutt?

Sanjay Dutta and Guns
If you keep firepower of this kind - You are a criminal.
Sanjay Dutta and Guns
If you keep firepower of this kind – You are a criminal.

I asked myself a simple question, who is Sanjay Dutt? And this is what the top of my mind recall is:

  • Sunil and Nargis Dutt’s totally messed up son.
  • An actor who worked wonders on celluloid with his Munna Bhai series.
  • A son who was launched as an actor with much fanfare by his father who produced and also directed his launch film, Rocky. One of the first, second generation star sons.
  • A proclaimed offender under the Drugs Act. Convicted. Imprisoned.
  • A reformed drug addict.
  • A suspected terrorist.
  • A suspected gangster.
  • A proclaimed offender under the Arms Act. Convicted. Imprisoned.
  • A person with publicly unsettled relationships. Two divorces, countless relationships lived dangerously.
  • A man who lived life by his own rules and wants his daughter to live by his rules.
  • A person who is well into his third marriage.
  • An out of control son of illustrious parents.
  • A politically connected individual with right connections across party lines.

Lot of people are appealing for tinkering justice for Sanjay Dutt, there is an answer for every so called reason:

Digvijay Singh: “Sanjay Dutt is not a criminal, he is not a terrorist…”

Rejoinder: Hello! He is a criminal, he was imprisoned for possessing drugs. He has been held guilty for possessing an “Assault Rifle.” Saying he is not a criminal is a crime in itself and shows disrespect to the law of the land which has identified him as a criminal.

Rajiv Shukla: “I know a lot of people have made this appeal. My sympathy is with Sanjay Dutt and his family. He has already suffered a lot but ultimately this decision can only be made by the judiciary.”

Rejoinder: Who decides Mr. Shukla that he has suffered a lot? In this country it has to be the judiciary and the judiciary doesn’t think so.

Justice Markandey Katju: “Surely, this is a lesser offense than murder…”

Rejoinder: Justice Katju, you should know that our law knows that it is a lesser offense  They haven’t awarded him life imprisonment or death sentence. It is just a minimum of 5 years for a crime as heinous as this.

Jaya Bachchan: “He (Dutt) has already been punished enough. Twenty years is almost like life imprisonment. I mean he suffered for twenty years and I think to do this to him at this time….. I am going to personally meet the Governor.”

Rejoinder: How do you define enough Mrs Bachchan? For the record, Mrs Bachchan, he has spent just 18 months for this crime, unfortunately the time spent for possessing illegal drugs and such can’t be counted as part of this offense. Even today, almost all of India’s police force would love to have a kind of weapon he was in illegal possession of. That weapon can kill more than 20 people per minute.

Rajinikanth: “I was very disturbed when I heard about my friend and a lovely person Sanjay Dutt’s verdict. The current support and appeal for his pardon is giving me hope. I pray to god that he gets remedy.”

Rejoinder: Don’t you get disturbed by the fact that illegal arms in India lead to thousands of deaths every month? Going by your definition of “lovely people”, one can conclude that all those who don’t keep unlicensed assault weapons at home are not ‘lovely” individuals.

Priyanka Chopra: “My heart goes out to Sanju sir and his family..the nicest gentlest person..I pray for some respite for him through our judiciary…”

Rejoinder: This “Gentlest person” had a massive fire-power under his command, all unlicensed. What gentle purpose would those weapons serve Ms. Chopra?

If any tempering with justice is done, a common Indian would eventually have to pay for it with more blood on the street.