The author criticizes Justice Katju's reasons for recommending a pardon for Sanjay Dutt, who was convicted for illegal possession of arms in relation to the 1993 Mumbai bombings. The author argues that Katju's reasons are absurd and unjust, as they do not properly consider the suffering of the bombing victims or establish appropriate deterrence. The author believes Katju's recommendation would undermine equal treatment under the law and could encourage others to commit terrorist acts. The author calls for justice to be applied equally regardless of social or financial status.

1. Dear Justice Katju, Your Reasons
Justifying Pardon For Sanjay Dutt
Are Ridiculous! Here’s Why
By Shobhit Agarwal

2. The verdict
• Justice Markandey Katju, Chairman Press Council of India and
Former Judge Supreme Court of India, has let me down.
• His opinions, though eccentric at times, always have some
amount of logic attached to them.
• But his current stance on the Sanjay Dutt verdict and his
reasons for asking the Governor of Maharashtra to grant
pardon to Sanjay Dutt are nothing sort of absurd and
ludicrous.

3. His reasons
1. ‘The event is 20 years old and Sanjay Dutt has suffered a
lot, having to make periodic court appearances, asking for
permissions to go to foreign shoots’
– What about the suffering of those 257 families who had
to bear the loss of their dear ones? What about the
sufferings of those 700 odd people for 20 long years,
who, because of the blast, faced some kind of physical
handicap or the other.

4. 2. ‘He has already undergone 18 months in jail’
– So is that the new punishment to be given to every
individual who conspires against the security of our
nation?
3. ‘He got married and has two children’
– So the next time any person intends on undertaking a
terror activity, he should get a family first and have kids,
so that once he is sentenced, he can plead for mercy on
the pretext of being a family man.

5. 4. ‘He has not been held to be a terrorist, and had no hand in
bomb blast’
– Justice Katju, me and every Indian knows how laws and
evidences in our country are manipulated to protect
people who exercise any kind of power. The trial itself is
rigged with controversies and false-doings given the fact
that, despite evidence suggesting otherwise, Sanjay Dutt
wasn’t charged under the more serious TADA act instead
of the ARMS act. So any more form of clemency would
only justify the phrase ‘andha kanoon’

6. 5. ‘His parents worked for the good of the society and nation’ -
– His parent’s goodwill doesn’t give him the permission to
aid and abet people having ulterior motives against the
country. Moreover, by that theory, will a terrorist’s son be
treated as a terrorist; no matter howsoever good he does
for the benefit of the society?
6. ‘Through his films, he revived the memory of Mahatma
Gandhi, the father of the nation’ -
– Most of the high-profile celebrities linked to terrorist are
producers. So all they need to do is to put in their money
on a film based on Gandhi, or some other spiritual leader,
and on its credentials, have a free hand in going about
bombing the various cities of India.

7. Justice should be same for all
• It is such kind of mindset which is a cause of worry.
• For way too long, those with any kind of power have
exercised their resources to get away with the most appalling
of actions while the ordinary Indian, is left to rot in the jail for
years on end, for crimes as minor as theft and trespassing.
• The law of the land should be the same for everyone,
irrespective of their social and financial stature

8. • Read more on Youth Ki Awaaz at http://bit.ly/YNkDvf