In a jolt to Salman Khan, a sessions court today sentenced him to five years rigorous imprisonment in the 2002 hit-and-run case after which the actor was arrested.
The Bollywood superstar’s lawyers immediately moved the Bombay High Court for bail and a stay on his conviction. The application was heard and the Bombay High Court granted interim bail to Salman Khan till May 8 when it will hear his appeal.
Following is Salman Khan’s case in nutshell:-
Date of mishap : September 28, 2002
Place of mishap: American Express Bakery, Bandra near Salman Khan’s residence at Galaxy
Casualty: One dies, 4 injured in mishap
Accused: Salman Khan, 49 (then 36)
Prosecution Witnesses: 27
Defence Witness: One
Charges faced by Salman which the court said has been proved against him:
(1) IPC section 304 part two (Culpable homicide not amounting to murder). Attracts imprisonment upto ten
years.
(2) IPC sec 279 (rash and negligent driving) punishment six months jail term.
(3) IPC sec 337 and 338 (causing hurt by act endangering life and causing grievous hurt-punishment upto 2 years.
(4) IPC sec 427 (mischief causing damage to property) specifies punishment upto two years.
(5) Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Sec 34(a)(b) read with sec 181 (driving vehicle in contravention of rules) and
sec 185 (driving at great speed after consuming alcohol with punishment of cancellation of driving licence and
provisions of Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949, which deal with driving under the influence of liquor attracting six months jail.
Sessions Judge who conducted the trial: D W Deshpande
Special Public Prosecutor: Pradeep Gharat
Lawyer heading the Defence team: Srikant Shivade
Key witnesses:
(1) Ravindra Patil : He was the police bodyguard of Salman and was with him in the car when the mishap occurred. In a statement before Magistrate, Patil said Salman was driving the car in a high speed after taking drinks. Salman’s lawyer objected to his statement being taken on record since he passed away in 2007 and was therefore not available for
cross-exam. He is also the complainant in this case.
(2) Malay Bag: He was the barman at “Rain Bar” in suburban Juhu where the actor had gone with friends hours before the mishap. He said he had served Barcardi (White Rum), Cocktails and Chicken, Prawns and snacks to the group of Salman. Another witness, the Bar Manager said Salman was holding a glass with white’ colour liquid. The defence team argued that the white colour liquid was ‘water’ and not ‘Bacardi Rum’ as claimed by the prosecution.
(3) Francis Fernandes : He was a friend and neighbour of Salman Khan. The actor calls him “Commander”. A resident of Hill Road where the accident took place, Fernandes told court that he had helped Salman get away from the scene after the actor told him “Commander Save me”. However, the defence team argued that Salman had asked him to save the injured persons trapped under the car.
(4) Ramsare Pande: He owned a dairy at Hill Road at the accident spot. He had seen Salman getting down from the right side of the car. However, Salman’s lawyer argued that the left door of the car got jammed in the mishap and hence the actor got down from the right side. The witness also testified that the front left tyre of the car had burst and he saw Salman and his singer friend moving away from the accident spot.
(5) Kalpesh Verma : He was the parking attendant at J W hotel where the actor had gone before the mishap. Verma had handed over the car to Salman from the parking lot and had seen the actor occupying the driver’s seat. However, Salman’s lawyer argued that the actor was waiting for driver Ashok Singh to arrive as he had to relieve another driver Altaf.
(6) Muslim Shaikh : Hostile witness : He told the court that on the day of mishap he was sleeping along with Bakery workers outside the shop when suddenly he found himself underneath the car. He also claimed that he saw Salman getting down from the right side door of the car. However, before a Magistrate earlier, he denied seeing the actor getting down from the right side. Hence, he was declared hostile.
(7) Manu Khan : This witness has sustained injuries on his right leg in the mishap. He told the court that there were three people in the car and the actor got down from the driver’s side of the car. He also said “Salman was so drunk that he fell down after getting out. He tried to stand but fell down again.
Then, he ran away.”
Defence Witness:
Ashok Singh : He was examined by Salman’s lawyer. He told the court that he and not Salman was driving the car at the time of mishap. The driver, who appeared in the court for the first time, 13 years after the mishap, said he was working with Salman’s family for the past 22 years. However, the prosecution claimed that Singh was lying and had deposed only to save the actor.
Salman Khan: Although he is an accused, he deposed before the court to give his version about the case at the fag end of trial as stipulated under section 313 of CrPC. Salman said he was not driving the car and that Singh was behind the wheel. The actor also said that he had to get down from the right side of the car because its left door had got jammed. He also denied that he was drunk and refuted allegations that he ran away from the spot. He said he was there for about 15 minutes and before leaving the place he had told his driver to help the injured.
Bollywood’s concern
Rs 200 to Rs 300 crore riding on Salman Khan
Films in hand: Kabir Khan’s ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ and Sooraj Barjatya’s ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’
Films planned: Remake of 1983 blockbuster ‘Hero’ by his own production company, ‘Dabang-3’, part of Dabang series, which is also his home production and ‘Sultan’, an under production film being made by Yash Raj Films.
Salman Khan’s Life Sketch
Date of birth: December 27, 1965
Father: Script writer Salim Khan
Mother: Salma Khan
Brothers: Arbaaz Khan, Sohail Khan
Sisters: Alvira Agnihotri, Arpita Khan
Total films: 130 plus films as lead actor
First film: Bibi Ho To Aisi (1983)
First film as Hero: Maine Pyar Kiya (1989)
Bollywood Hits: Maine Pyar Kiya, Saajan (1991), Sanam Bewafa (1991), Hum Aaapke Hain Kaun (1994), Karan Arjun (1995), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Hum Sath Sath Hain (1999), Hello Brother (1999), Chori Chori Chupke Chupke (2001), Dabang (2010), Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Dabang-2 (2012), Jai Ho (2014) and Kick (2014).
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