HC GRANTS HIM INTERIM BAIL
PTI
Mumbai, May 6: Superstar Salman Khan was Wednesday convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to five years’
imprisonment in the 2002 hit-and-run case. He dramatically escaped being sent to jail after the Bombay high court granted him interim bail till May 8 when it will hear his plea against the conviction.
The high court granted interim relief to the 49-year-old actor on the ground that he had been handed over only a 2-page
operative part of the sessions court verdict and not a detailed order explaining the reasons for his conviction.
Like the twists and turns that characterised the trial in the over 12-year-old case, the actor was sentenced to five years’ rigorous imprisonment by sessions court judge DW Deshpande and placed under arrest immediately thereafter, but was soon allowed a 48-hour breather by the high court.
Minutes after the judgement was pronounced in a packed courtroom, Salman’s lawyers moved the high court in appeal
against conviction and seeking bail. Justice AM Thipsay of the Bombay high court offered a breather to the beleaguered actor when he granted him interim bail accepting the plea of his senior counsel Harish Salve.
“So far, we have only got a two-page operative part of the judgement but not a detailed copy giving reasons for
the conviction,” Salve said, seeking interim protection.
“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, adding “in all
fairness and in the interest of justice” the actor should be protected till the time a copy of the reasoned order regarding
his conviction is furnished to him.
He also 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.” The judge also directed the actor to execute a fresh
bond before the trial court today itself.
Judge Deshpande, who held the actor guilty of “all charges”, including driving under influence of liquor and not possessing a driving licence, pronounced the sentence after a 45-minute adjournment of the proceedings. A big crowd, mostly of Salman’s fans, thronged around the court located in Fort area of south Mumbai. The actor, who had fought back tears after being convicted, looked calm and composed as the judgement was read out to him in the presence of his close family members. His brothers Arbaaz and Sohail and sister Arpita were present in the court. Dressed in a white shirt and blue jeans, the actor arrived in the jam-packed courtroom minutes before the proceedings began in the morning.
Asked if he had to say anything about the verdict,Salman denied the charge that he was driving the vehicle at
the time of the accident. Salman had earlier been tried for the lesser offence of causing death by rash and negligent driving which attractsa lighter punishment of imprisonment upto two years.