CBI seeking legal opinion on Dutt`s plea in Supreme Court

New Delhi, March 26: 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 KG 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. IANS