Barely hours after he was sentenced to five years jail in the 2002 accident case, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan was granted two days interim bail on medical grounds by the Bombay High Court today.
Rushing post-haste to secure bail, Salman’s defence team led by Supreme Court counsel Harish Salve mentioned the matter before Justice A.M. Thipsay of the Bombay High Court.
Salve cited medical reasons for seeking bail and also argued that a person could not be arrested on the basis of a summarised court order.
Correction: Bail was applied applied for on the ground that the judgement wasn’t ready yet, not for medical reasons.
He said they were awaiting a copy of the lower court order, after which Justice Thipsay said he was already out on bail and has not yet got a copy of the judgement and granted two days interim relief till May 8.
Update: DSK Legal Mumbai partners Anand Desai and Nirav Shah, and associate Manhar Singh Saini, acted for Salman Khan. Public prosecutor SS Shinde acted for the State of Maharashtra.
The hearing on the bail application will now be taken up on Friday morning.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, Additional Sessions Judge D.W. Deshpande found the actor guilty of all the charges in the September 2002 accident which left one person dead and four people injured, and later pronounced a five-year sentence.
Friday would be the final working day of the Bombay High Court before it goes on its annual summer vacation and will reopen on June 7.
Earlier:
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan was today sentenced to five years in jail for a 2002 hit-and-run accident here that left one man dead and four others injured.
As Additional Sessions Judge D.W. Deshpande, who earlier found him guilty on all the charges, pronounced the sentence in a packed courtroom here, the 49-year-old Salman was in tears.
His sisters, Alvira and Arpita, tried to console him although they themselves were crying.
One of the highest paid actors in Bollywood, Salman was sentenced for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, driving without valid licence and other charges.
The judge also held Salman guilty of rash and negligent driving when he was behind the wheel of his Land Cruiser that killed the victim on a footpath in suburban Bandra in September 2002.
Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said the court has found Salman guilty on all counts.
Defence lawyer Shrikant Shivade, who pleaded for a milder sentence keeping in view the social services the actor was involved in and his medical problems, is expected to move the Bombay High Court.
Legal experts said the time was too short for Salman’s defence team as the court will close for the annual summer vacation after three days (from May 9) and reopen only on June 7.
Salman, known for giving blockbusters like “Kick”, “Wanted” and “Ek Tha Tiger”, has acted in nearly 100 movies since he made his debut in 1988 with “Biwi Ho Toh Aisi” as a supporting actor.
The film that brought him glory was the 1989 hit “Maine Pyar Kiya”.
Filmmakers, musicians and actors expressed solidarity with the mega star.
“We all know that Salman is excellent as human who can’t fight with destiny,” said Subhash Ghai, Bollywood producer and director.
Actor-producer Riteish Deshmukh called Salman one of the “finest people I have met in this industry”.
Actress Bipasha Basu added: “Salman is the nicest human being in this business… Deeply saddened.”
Actress-producer Dia Mirza said: “He is the man (who) saved my mother’s life. That I will never forget.”
Actress Sonakshi Sinha, Salman’s co-star in “Dabangg”, called the verdict “terrible news”. Director Kunal Kohli said he was “heartbroken”.
Actress Alia Bhatt, daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, tweeted: “We love you and are standing by you.”
But activist lawyer Abha Singh said justice has finally been done.
“I am very happy,” she told the media. “Justice has been done. The law has been upheld.”
She said the long delay had given the impression that the rich could get away with murder in India, and that the moneyed were above the law.
Abha Singh had sought to intervene in the Sessions Court on Wednesday with an application seeking to record the witness statement of one of Salman’s friends, singer Kamaal Khan, who was in the killer vehicle.
Judge Deshpande declined to accept the application.
The court also rejected the belated statement by Salman’s driver Ashok Singh owning up responsibility for the accident. The prosecution is contemplating charging him with perjury.
Salman is likely to be taken into police custody and, after a medical examination, will be sent to the Arthur Road Central Jail in south Mumbai.
This is the third case of a high-profile Bollywood actor going to jail in Mumbai.
In May 2013, actor Sanjay Dutt was convicted for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings and sentenced to five years in jail. He is lodged in Pune’s Yerwada Central Jail.
In March 2011, a Mumbai Sessions Court sentenced actor Shiney Ahuja to seven years for raping his domestic help in 2009. Since April 2011, he is out on bail, pending a hearing of his appeal against the sentence.
Comments
Vacation starts from Friday.
"Salve cited medical reasons for seeking bail and also argued that a person could not be arrested on the basis of a summarised court order.
"He said they were awaiting a copy of the lower court order, after which Justice Thipsay said he was already out on bail and has not yet got a copy of the judgement and granted two days interim relief till May 8."
Didn't know Salve acted till around half an hour ago, then updated story...
Supreme Courts Justices are incorrect on the burden of proof when they said,
"Even if we assume for a moment that there is no primacy to the CJI or the collegium, you still cannot succeed before us until you prove that the new system protects independence of judiciary."
The burden of proof is on the Petitioners to show that it is Un-Constitutional.
The burden is not on Mukul Rohatgi to show that it is indeed Constitutional.
Rohatgi does not need to prove "that the new system protects independence of judiciary."
On the contrary, the Petitioners need to prove beyond reasonable doubt "that the new system VIOLATES independence of judiciary."
What are these Justices upto? Do they know the principles of Jurisprudence?
Secondly, the 1993 judgment is not applicable here since that 1993 judgment was based on the reading of the Constitutional prevalent at that time, i.e. 1993. Today, the Constitution has been amended to make NJAC supreme in judicial appointments. Justices cannot go against the Constitution by harping on the old 1993 Constitution where, because there was no mention of who was supreme, they were forced to read into it (1993 version) a supremacy of the CJI. Today, that excuse or compulsion is no longer available, valid or relevant.
Therefore the basic structure argument needs to be addressed
According to me appointment of judges is not a judicial function and cannot fall within the ambit of judicial power. In no other country in the world do judges appoint judges. As such it has to necessarily be an executive function. The 1993 judgement was wrong and needs to be over0ruled.
As far as what I think of Rohatgi, I'll avoid going into here because it is irrelevant to my original comment.
http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/generatenewauth.php?auth=cGF0aD0uL2RhdGEvY3JpbWluYWwvMjAxNS8mZm5hbWU9QVBQQTU5MjE1MDYwNTE1LnBkZiZzbWZsYWc9Tg==
Also, read on Twitter that Salve was in Bombay HC for a Vodafone matter & how he suddenly appeared for Salman in a matter of hours is a mystery.
The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.
Thereby hangs our tail.
Kian, the Associates who worked on this deserve a mention here!!
http://bombayhighcourt.nic.in/casequery_action.php?auth=bV9zaWRlZmxnPUNSJm1fZmlsX25vPTAxMzIxMDA1OTIyMDE1Jm1fc3I9UiZtX3NrZXk9QVBQQSZtX25vPTU5MiZtX3lyPTIwMTUmbV9oYz0wMSZzZXNzaW9udGltZT0xNDMwOTI5Njcx
Three cheers for...the system.
FYI, Harish Salve may have been there for the AMSS mediation which concluded a day earlier.