The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is seeking legal help in replying to the Supreme Court on Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt's plea seeking suspension of his conviction to enable him to contest elections.
'The CBI has got a notice from the Supreme Court and we will reply to it after taking legal opinion,' CBI Director Ashwini Kumar said Thursday.
'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 here.
Dutt, sentenced to six years in jail by an anti-terror court for possessing firearms ahead of the 1993 Mumbai bombings, moved the court March 5.
The actor, who is the Samajwadi Party's candidate in Lucknow, is seeking parity with cricketer-parliamentarian Navjot Singh Sidhu, whose conviction in a case of unintentional road death was stayed by the apex court in 2007 to enable him to run for elections.
A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices Markandey Katju and P. Sathasivam on March 6 had issued notices to the CBI and Maharashtra government and sought their replies within two weeks. It will hold the next hearing on Dutt's plea on March 30.
A person convicted for a criminal offence and sentenced to jail for more than two years is barred from running for elections.
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