New Delhi, October 23
The Home Ministry has sought opinion of the Maharashtra Government on reducing sentence of Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt and two other convicts in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts.

The move came after Press Council of India chief Markandey Katju petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee seeking relief for the actor and two others, including a 70 year-old women, on humanitarian grounds.

Sources said the Home Ministry sought the opinion of the Maharashtra Government after the President forwarded applications of Katju and a few others seeking reduction of their sentences. "We have asked the state government to provide its opinion, the jailor's comment on the actor's conduct and a few others issues," sources said. Dutt, who was lodged in Pune's Yerawada Central Jail to serve his remaining sentence in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, is currently at home on furlough. Good conduct is one of the criteria for granting furlough, which is sanctioned from prisoner's accumulated leave.

Dutt, 53, is serving the remaining 42-month jail term for possessing illegal firearms, part of the cache of weapons which were supposed to be used during the 1993 bombings. — PTI