Dawood Ibrahim will stay in the headlines

The Dawood Ibrahim issue is likely to stay right on top of the political discourse in the coming week after Nationalist Congress Party supremo and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Sharad Pawar claimed that although senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani had given a proposition regarding the surrender of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, 'it was 'conditional'.

"Ram Jethmalani gave a proposition that's true, but it was conditional. The condition was that after Dawood comes to Bombay; he would not be arrested but permitted to stay at home. How could we accept that? For a man who had so many cases against him, the law had to take its course," Pawar told the media. This is the first time that anyone in a responsible position is acknowledging that a deal with the most wanted underworld don had been in the works and did not materialise.