Salman Khan won’t go to jail for now, Bombay HC grants him 2-day interim bail in 2002 hit-and-run case
Mumbai: In a breather to actor Salman Khan, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to him till May 8 when it would hear his appeal against a sessions court order convicting him in the 2002 hit-and-run case which killed a homeless man.
Justice A M Thipsay granted Salman interim bail after observing that the copy of the conviction order had not been furnished to him by the trial court.
"The urgency in the matter is that the appellant (Salman) who was on bail throughout the trial is likely to be taken into custody today. However, the copy of the order has not been delivered yet," Justice Thipsay said.
The court observed that in all fairness and in the interest of justice it would be proper to protect Salman for some time till a copy of the order for the conviction is furnished to him.
Justice Thipsay said, "The order could have been pronounced when the copy was ready. Why was the order pronounced today. It should not have been delivered if the copy is not ready."
Read: All charges against you are proved, says judge as teary-eyed Salman listens to verdict
Appearing for the actor, senior counsel Harish Salve argued that Salman should be granted bail till he gets copy of the order. "So far, we have only got a two-page operative part of the judgement but not a detailed copy giving reasons for the conviction," he said.
Opposing his plea, government pleader Sandeep Shinde said the High Court should not entertain the actor's plea without a copy of the conviction order. He said the accused had not enclosed the copy of the order in his appeal, which is required under law.
Mumbai: Salman Khan leaves for Sessions Court #SalmanVerdict https://t.co/oeQuqy3hcS
— ANI (@ANI_news) May 6, 2015Earlier in the day, a Mumbai sessions judge sentenced Salman to five years in jail after finding him guilty of killing a homeless man in 2002.
Judge D W Deshpande convicted the 49-year-old of culpable homicide for crashing his SUV into a group of homeless men after a night out drinking and then fleeing the scene.
Read: Salman guilty: Twitteratti divided, but some posts are just bizarre
Khan was teary eyed and stood silently in the dock when the judge pronounced the verdict soon after 11 am. He was still and expressionless, with his head down, once the sentence was pronounced a few hours later.
Khan was convicted of all eight charges, including the most severe charge of 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder' that carried a punishment of up to 10 years in jail.
Judge D W Deshpande told Khan he was driving the SUV on that fateful night in Bandra when his car ran over people sleeping on the pavement, killing one and injuring four others. He also said Khan was drunk and had no licence to drive. The actor stood solemn and dejected as the judge read out the verdict.
Read: Salman Khan did not run away after the accident: Lawyer
The trial in the case has seen many twists and turns, and today's decision is a bad hit to the Rs 200-crore riding on his films at the moment.
A tight security blanket was thrown around the court where sessions judge D W Deshpande pronounced the judgement. Only lawyers, media personnel and court staff were allowed to be present. Last month, Judge Deshpande had asked Khan to be present in court today to hear the verdict.
"This is a deadly combination, driving under the influence of liquor and then running over human beings and having no concern for human lives... and running away from the spot and then cooking up a false story. "This is perhaps the worst case scenario," eminent lawyer K T S Tulsi said.
Former Maharashtra police chief Arvind Inamdar said," However high you may be, the law is the same. Today, in fact, the law has won. In my opinion, police officials have done a magnificent job."
The 'Kick' actor was first tried under the lesser charge of 'rash and negligent driving' -- that carried a punishment of two years -- but a Bandra metropolitan magistrate in 2012 slapped the more serious offence of 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder' and transferred the matter to the sessions court. This fresh charge carried a punishment of up to 10 years.
The actor had claimed he was not at the wheel at the time of the accident which killed one person and left four others injured on the night of September 28, 2002. While the prosecution had insisted a drunk Khan was driving the Toyota Land Cruiser that ran over the victims sleeping on the pavement outside a bakery in suburban Bandra, the actor claimed it was his driver Ashok Singh who was behind the wheel. Driver Singh has endorsed the defence's claim.
Read: Bad boy to superstar, Salman 'Dabangg' Khan comes a long way
The defence also argued that police had not obtained finger prints from the steering wheel to find out who was driving the vehicle. Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat had alleged that Khan was driving the vehicle after consuming Bacardi rum at a bar, a charge denied by the actor, who said he had just a glass of water.
Nurullah Mehboob Sharif was killed in the accident while Kalim Mohammed Pathan, Munna Malai Khan, Abdullah Rauf Shaikh and Muslim Shaikh were injured.
Kalim Mohammad Pathan, who had shifted to his village in Uttar Pradesh after the tragedy, said he was more concerned about award of compensation to the victims than the quantum of punishment to the actor.
"Our stomach cannot be filled if he (Salman) gets bigger punishment. We want adequate compensation as we hardly have anything to do in our village," he told a TV channel.
Another survivor of the accident, Abdullah Rauf Shaikh, said," We are poor. If we get some compensation, it will be good for us."
The wife of one of the victims said, "We are living in trouble and poverty. If we get a job, we will be happy and we can lead a better life."
Read: Salman Khan hit and run case: Timeline from 2002-2015
The defence also disputed the prosecution's contention that there were three people in the vehicle -- Khan, his police bodyguard Ravindra Patil and singer friend Kamal Khan, insisting that driver Ashok Singh was also present.
Khan's counsel Srikant Shivade had argued that the post-mortem report of the deceased indicated he had died after being crushed. Shivade contended the man was killed when a crane called by the police to lift Khan's SUV could not haul it up at one go and dropped it on the victims, causing injuries.
The defence counsel also claimed the accident was caused after the driver lost control due to a tyre burst. He also said the road was under repair and stones lay scattered all over the place.
To nail the actor, the prosecution heavily relied upon the statement by Khan's bodyguard Ravindra Patil, who had said the actor paid no heed to his warning not to drive rashly.
Patil, who died during the pendency of the trial, had also said Khan was under the influence of liquor at the time of the accident. He had, however, not said a word about driver Ashok Singh being behind the wheel when the accident occurred. The defence called Ravindra Patil a "liar" and claimed he was asleep in the vehicle when the accident occurred.
Read: Shah Rukh Khan visits Salman Khan on the eve of hit and run verdict
Khan's counsel had sought discarding Patil's evidence as he had died and was not available for cross-examination. The court had taken Patil's evidence on record and said it will decide on its evidentiary value.
The defence lawyer also disputed the prosecution's claim that it had taken Khan 30 minutes to drive his SUV from JW Marriot Hotel to the accident spot at a speed of 90 km per hour after ingesting drinks. The lawyer argued as the distance was not much, it would take Khan only ten minutes to cover it and claimed the case was "false".
The prosecution also alleged that Khan was driving without holding a licence. To buttress its charge, the prosecution produced RTO records to show that the actor had procured a licence only in 2004, two years after the tragedy.
The actor had, however, said the licence procured in 2004 was not his first. The prosecution also alleged that Khan was driving the car without holding a licence. It produced RTO records to show that the actor had procured a licence only in 2004, two years after the mishap.
Read: Salman Khan's run-in with law: From reel to real life
The actor, however, pleaded that this was not the first licence obtained by him. The court would also pass order on an application filed by activist Santosh Daundkar alleging that police had committed perjury (giving false evidence) by examining a wrong set of doctors and delaying the trial by three years.
The application alleged that police had not examined a key witness -- Kamaal Khan, singer and friend of Khan -- who was in the car along with the actor at the relevant time. Khan is facing charges under provisions of IPC, Motor Vehicles Act and Bombay Prohibition Act.
Khan was charged under IPC sections 304 part II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) which attracts upto 10 years in prison; 279 (rash and negligent driving) which stipulates six months jail; 337 & 338 (causing hurt by act endangering life and causing grievous hurt respectively) with punishment up to two years, and 427 (mischief causing damage to property) with maximum punishment of upto two years.
Read: The 'human' side of Salman Khan
Under Motor Vehicle Act, the actor is charged with Sections 34 (a), (b) read with 181 (driving vehicle in contravention of rules) and 185 (driving at great speed after consuming alcohol). Khan is also charged under sections of Bombay Prohibition Act relating to driving under influence of alcohol with maximum six months' jail.
Shares of Eros International Mediaand Mandhana Industries Ltd, the entities associated with Samlan Khan, came under intense selling pressure today after the Bollywood actor was convicted in the 2002 hit-and-run case.
Reacting to the news, Eros International scrip plunged 5.66 per cent to Rs 381 on the BSE, while Mandhana Industries slumped 4.74 per cent to Rs 263.10.
Read: 2002 hit-and-run case: I wasn't driving, wasn't drunk, claims Salman Khan
Mandhana Industries is associated with the actor's NGO 'Being Human'. It has an exclusive licence agreement with Being Human - the Salman Khan Foundation - for designing, marketing and distributing Being Human Clothing Products.
Eros International Media had in December announced its collaboration on the two maiden productions of Salman Khan Films - Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Hero.
Khan also faces trial in a separate case for allegedly killing two rare deer in a western India wildlife preserve 16 years ago.
