In a development that sent shock waves through movie makers associated with him and evoked sympathy among film fraternity members, Bollywood actor Salman Khan was on Wednesday sentenced by a Sessions Court to five years’ rigorous imprisonment in the long-drawn hit-and-run case. However, he managed to secure an interim bail till May 8 from the Bombay High Court hours later.
Forty-nine-year-old Salman, on whom Bollywood has currently invested more than Rs200 crore, paid for a callous act that he had indulged in a near drunken stupor way back in September 2002, as Sessions Judge DW Deshpande convicted him for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 (part-II) of the Indian Penal Code and handed him a five-year jail term.
The judge also held the actor guilty and punished him for all other offences that he was tried for under various other provisions of IPC, Criminal Procedure Code, Motor Vehicles Act and Bombay Prohibition Act. As soon as Salman stepped into the dock to hear the verdict in room number 52 of the Sessions Court in south Mumbai, which was packed with the Press, lawyers, police and his family members, the judge told the actor: “You have been found guilty…all charges against you have been proved...do you want to say anythingIJ”
Continuing, the Judge told the actor: “I hold that you were driving the vehicle. You were intoxicated. I also do not agree with your plea that the person who had died had received fatal injuries after a crane dropped the car on the persons underneath while removing it.” The Judge went by the Prosecution’s case that that Salman -- allegedly in a drunken state -- had on intervening the night of September 27 and 28, 2002, rammed his Toyota land Cruiser lexus into the American Express Bakery and laundry at Bandra (west) killing one Nurullah Mehboob Sharif and injuring four others -- Kalim Mohammed Pathan, Munna Malai Khan, Abdullah Rauf Shaikh and Muslim Shaikh.
The Judge rejected outright the testimony of defence witness Ashok Singh, a driver of the Khan-family, who had owned the responsibility of the accident by telling the court that it was he and not the actor who was behind the wheels at the time of mishap. As soon as the Judge pronounced the verdict against him in the presence of his brothers Arbaaz and Sohail, sisters Alvira and Arpita, film producer Ramesh Taurani, Salman’s secretary Reshma Shetty and private bodyguard Shera, the actor was seen wiping tears from his eyes.
later, in response to the judicial verdict, the actor -- dressed in light blue denim jeans and a white shirt -- implored the judge: “I was not driving the car...But I respect your decision and accept it. My lawyer will speak on my behalf.” In his subsequent argument over quantum of punishment made subsequently, Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat rooted for a maximum punishment for 10 years, saying that humanity of person could in no way nullify the seriousness of a crime. “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”.
“Callous driving of vehicles in crowded streets is a major cause for concern. The Supreme Court, Bombay High Court and other high courts have taken a serious view of this. The high court has the power to enhance or decrease the sentence,” the SPP said, while rooting for the court handing the maximum punishment of 10-year jail (for culpable homicide not amounting to murder -- section 304 Part-II) to the actor. Seeking leniency for his client, the actor’s lawyer Shrikant Shivade 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, 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. “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 case. After all, we are governed by Constitution and not rule of jungle”
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, the defence lawyer told the court: “In all these cases, the sentence was not 10 years… In fact, the number of deaths was more than five in similar other cases. That’s why I urge the court to my client to a period less than three years.”
While pronouncing sentence in the case, the Judge drew comparisons with similar hit-and-run mishap cases involving Alstair Pereira (in Mumbai) and Sanjeev Nanda ( in New Delhi), as he convicted Salman under Section 235 (2) of the CrPC for offences punishable under Section 304 ( part-II) of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for five years and asked him to pay a fine of Rs 25,000, in default of which he ordered to undergo another six months of jail term.
The court also held Salman guilty of offences under Section 279 IPC (rash and negligent driving) and sections 337 and 338 IPC (causing hurt by acts endangering life or personal property of others), which prescribes six months jail. In addition, the Judge sentenced the actor to undergo jail for six months under Sections 181 (driving without licence) and 185 of Motor Vehicles Act (drink driving). He found Salman guilty under the Bombay Prohibition Act under Section 66 (a) and (b) for which he received two months imprisonment and fine of Rs 500.
Earlier, the court rejected the plea of activist Santosh Daundkar seeking action against the police for perjury (giving false evidence under oath) for examining a wrong set of doctors in the trial, thereby delaying the process of justice. Daundkar, it may be recalled, had also sought action against the police for not examining a key witness -- singer Kamaal Khan, who was in the vehicle at the time of mishap. Dismissing Daundkar’s plea as “frivolous”, the Judge imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on the activist.