I respect SC decision: Sanjay Dutt

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that actor-politician Sanjay Dutt cannot contest elections and rejected the actor's plea to suspend his conviction. He is the Samajwadi Party candidate from Lucknow.

After the decision he said, "I have not read the judgement but I respect the SC's decision. I am not going to leave Lucknow. It is my home whether I fight elections or not. I owe a lot Lucknow and will not leave."

So who is going to contest now?

"That decision depends on the party. Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav have stood by me and I will stand by them. I love Lucknow and I will stay here whether I fight elections or not. Whoever fights from Lucknow will be my candidate," Sanjay added.

The court said though Dutt is a first time offender, his offence was serious. Dutt had cited the case of Navjot Siddhu who was allowed to contest polls despite his conviction in a murder case, but the court said Dutt's case cannot be compared to Sidhu's.

It said that Siddhu was an MP when he was convicted but he resigned and approached the court, and in this case the trial court had acquitted him.

After the decision was made, the actor's lawyer Farhana Shah said that if Sanjay wants, Manyata can contest the coming Lok Sabha election.

The SC judgement has received mixed from political circles. While Congress chose to be diplomatic with party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi saying one has to abide by the Supreme Court judgement, BJP leader Arun Jaitley said this is a good precedent which the SC has set.