Sharad Pawar-led govt did not allow Dawood back in the country says Ram Jethmalani

Supreme Court advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Ram Jethmalani has said that underworld dons Chhota Shakeel and Dawood Ibrahim had planned on surrendering to the Indian government in the late 90s. The report in The Times of India adds that the Maharashtra government under the then CM Sharad Pawar had not let this happen. Jethmalani's words seem to have urged the NCP supremo into action, who took to Twitter, and aside from confirming that Jethmalani had approached him back then, fired a salvo of his own. Pawar says that agreeing to the conditions laid down by Jethmalani back then would have meant that Dawood would not be arrested if he returned to the country.   Yes, Ram Jethmalani had given a proposition regarding surrender of Dawood Ibrahim, that's true, but it was conditional. — Sharad Pawar (@Pawar_Sharad) July 4, 2015 Ram Jethmalani had put such a condition wherein Dawood would not have been arrested if he had come to India. — Sharad Pawar (@Pawar_Sharad) July 4, 2015 You will have to arrest a person who has so many cases against him. Everybody needs to follow the law but he didn't accept the suggestion. — Sharad Pawar (@Pawar_Sharad) July 4, 2015   Jethmalani had earlier added that Shakeel had contacted him in London with the offer, also asking for assurance that the police would not torture the duo. “I don't know how he got to know that I was in London. But he contacted me and said he and Dawood were prepared to surrender to Indian authorities. He wanted an assurance from the government that they would be kept in house arrest during the trial,” Jethmalani told the newspaper. “Immediately after Chhota Shakeel spoke to me in London, I had in writing given details of the offer to then Maharashtra CM Sharad Pawar,” he added. Jethmalani says that the state government thought about the proposal for a long time but could not guarantee that all terms could be agreed to. “The matter ended there," he said.  The senior lawyer’s statement comes after the Shakeel’s statement to the TOI earlier, where he had mentioned that they had been in touch with Jethmalani regarding the matter.