Ahead of Bollywood actor Salman Khan being sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by a trial court here in the much-discussed hit-and-run case, his lawyer Shrikant Shivade on Wednesday contended that his client be treated as an “ordinary citizen” and “not as a celebrity or an actor” and be handed out punishment at par with accused convicted in other similar cases.
In his submissions made after the actor was convicted by the court for culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the hit-and-run case, Shivade argued against his client being sentenced to imprisonment for 10 years on the ground that convicts in similar other cases had not been handed out maximum punishment, that Salman was engaged in charitable work and that he suffered from a neurological problem.
In his arguments on the quantum of sentence to the actor, Shivade argued that his client be treated as an ordinary citizen and at par with the convicts in similar other cases when it came to punishment, given that he had faced the trial as “an ordinary citizen and not as a celebrity or an actor”
“The court cannot look at my client as an actor or a celebrity and give him a higher punishment. ... There cannot be different yardsticks for convicts in similar cases. After all, we are governed by Constitution and not rule of jungle, Shivade said.”
Citing three similar cases --the Aliaster Pereira hit-and-run case of Bandra in Mumbai, the Nooriya Haveliwali hit-and-run case of Mumbai and Delhi’s Nikhil Nanda-BMW hit-and-run case, Shivade told the trial court, the defence lawyer told the court, “In all these cases, the sentence was not 10 years… In fact, the number of deaths was more in similar other cases. That’s why I urge the court to my client to a period less than three years”
Making a case for the court showing leniency in punishment to his client, Shivade argued the actor had expressed his readiness to pay the compensation to the kin of the deceased and other victims, even before any court asked him to do so. “He has already said that he is ready to pay the compensation....We have deposited close to Rs 19 lakh without even challenging it.”
Shivade also brought to the attention of the court that the actor was involved in lot of charity and his NGO “Being Human” was engaged in social work since 2007. “The NGO run by my client works in the areas of cardiac care, human needs of unprivileged, paediatric care, special children, services to humanity and so on. If he is sentenced, all this work would be affected. I would urge the court to look into these aspects before deciding on the quantum of sentence,” the defence lawyer told the court.
While pleading for leniency in punishment to his client, the defence lawyer also spoke about the health issues, including a neurological problem, faced by the actor.
On his part, Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat rooted for the court handing out a maximum punishment of 10-year jail term to the convicted actor, by saying that humanity of person could in no way nullify the seriousness of a crime.
Arguing on the quantum of punishment to the convicted actor, Gharat told the court: “Sentence is an important task in deciding the case. The sentence must include deterrence and correction....This is the most important factor...The submission that people were sleeping on the streets does not reduce the seriousness of the crime.”