FirstpostEbook_Salmanverdict

Copyright 2012 Firstpost

Table of contents

Hit-and run case: The charges and the verdict

Why did Salman Khans trial take so long? Because thats how law works in Indi 08

From 2002 to 2015: A timeline of events in the Salman Khan hit-and-run case 11

A look at all the charges slapped on Salman Khan in 2002 hit-and-run case 19

Five years in jail: Salman Khan previously described prison as hell 20

Hit-and-run case: Salman Khan sentenced for 5 years, to be taken into

custody today 22

Salman Khan sentenced to five years in jail: The witnesses that mattered 23

Reactions to Salmans sentencing

Salman fans celebrate at his residence as HC suspends 5-year sentence 26

Salman Khans bail justified or unusual? Lawyers divided over Bombay HC

decision 27

Meherbani, Shukriya: Salman thanks fans for their support, blessings 29

UnBHAIased ruling? #SalmanVerdict rules Twitter after judge finds Khan guilty

of culpable homicide 32

Roads garib ke baap ki nahi hain: Tone deaf Bollywood supports Salman 39

Sending Salman to jail will not heal my leg: Victim of hit-and-run 43

Farahs gems: Jewelry designer says people shouldnt sleep on roads 44

Shares of Eros, Mandhana tank as Salman Khan gets 5 years in jail 47

Out of love for bhaijaan, Salman Khan-themed restaurant in Mumbai shuts

for a day 48

What does the ruling mean for Brand Salman and his movies?

Brand Salman in grave danger 51

Five years of jail, so what? Its not the death of Brand Salman 53

No Entry to Kick: With Rs 200 crore riding on Salman Khan, here are the films

in jeopardy 55


The Firstpost Verdict

Hit and run affirms Salmans amazing record: 3 convictions, six days in jail 58

Sabse bada rupaiya: Did you think Salman Khan would be jailed for 5 years? Pity 60

Salman Khans defenders are as silly as Sanjay Dutts 62

Friends of Salman Khan, do us a favour and stop tweeting 64

Salman Khans punishment is richly deserved 69

How bhai betrayed his die-hard fans with hit-and-run case 71

Manage kar dena culture wont work always: Salman verdict a wake up call

for our elites 73

But Bhai is a good guy: Support for Salman Khan a win for his PR but medias

failure 75

What if Salman killed one of them? Bollywood hates the homeless, but wants

their money 80

Tu mera hero: Spare Salman Khan fans please, we hero-worship Congress,

BJP leaders too! 82


Hit-and run case: The charges and the verdict


Bombay HC suspends Salman Khans sentence, let off on bail

PTI, May 8, 2015

M umbai: Salman Khan will not have to go to jail pending disposal of his appeal against conviction in the 2002 hit-and-run case after the Bombay High Court suspended his sentence and granted him bail, in a huge relief to one of the reigning superstars of Bollywood.

"This is not a case where I should keep him (Khan) in jail till his appeal is heard and decid-ed. Why his right should suffer when his appeal is admitted and kept pending?

"In many cases people have suffered and spent their entire prison term only to be acquitted later by the High Court," Justice Abhay Thipsay observed, before staying execution of the 5-year jail sentence awarded to Khan by the trial court on Wednesday and ordering that he be enlarged on bail.

Justice Thipsay had granted interim bail to 49-year-old Khan hours after his conviction and sentencing by sessions court judge D W Deshpande on the ground that the actor had not been supplied with a detailed and reasoned order. The tenure of the 48-hour interim relief was to end today.

A man was killed and four others were wounded when Khan's Toyota Land Cruiser ran over

them while they were asleep on a pavement out-side a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002.

"The normal rule is that when an appeal is admitted and the sentence is under seven years, it (the sentence) is suspended. Why do you (prosecution) want to depart from this norm?" Justice Thipsay said, rejecting prosecution's contentions against the suspension of sentence.Since the term of the interim bail was to expire this evening, the judge asked Khan to surrender before the trial court, execute a fresh bond of Rs 30,000 and furnish a surety of the like amount for obtaining regular bail.

Anywhere between Rs 200 crore and Rs 250 crore was said to be riding on the popular actor and the court's order would come as a huge re-lief to the jittery Hindi film world, which kept its fingers crossed since Wednesday's judgement of the trial court.

Hundreds of Khan's anxious fans had collected outside the high court and the actor's Bandra residence since early morning and the mood was sullen.

Police contingents in riot gear deployed in both places had a tough time regulating the crowds that waited with bated breath for a 'positive' outcome on Khan's appeal in the high court.

As the word came out that the high court had stayed the sentence pending disposal of Khan's appeal, exultant fans burst firecrackers, broke into a wild jig, hopped, jumped and carried each other on shoulders, throwing traffic into disar-ray for a while.

Sweets were kept ready for celebrations in the event of his prayer for bail being granted.

Khan, who was at his Galaxy Apartments resi-dence in suburban Bandra, soon stepped out to


loud cheers from delirious fans.

As the superstar, dressed in blue jeans, white shirt and sporting sunglasses, left for the ses-sions court in his Mercedes SUV at the head of a convoy of vehicles, jubilant supporters were seen sprinting in pursuit.

The crowds that had parked themselves outside the star's residence left only after he gestured them to return to their homes. He folded his hands in gratitude and waved at them for a brief while before retreating from the balcony. His father, scriptwriter Salim Khan, mother Salma, brother Arbaaz and sister Arpita also made a brief appearance on the balcony with him.

While ordering Khan to be enlarged on bail, Justice Thipsay said he would expedite the hearing on his appeal and posted the matter for June 15.

He noted that Khan has been on bail throughout the trial even after being slapped with the seri-ous charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. He had earlier been tried by a Met-ropolitan Magistrate on the lesser charge of rash and negligent driving causing death.

"There are a number of arguable points raised about whether or not Khan was driving the car. It is also nobody's case that Khan will abscond if he released on bail, pending appeal," Justice Thipsay said.

While setting out the bail conditions, the judge said Khan will have to obtain the permission of the court before travelling abroad. Khan's passport is with the Bandra police station and he hitherto he used to seek police's permission before going abroad.

During the arguments on admission of Khan's appeal, defence counsels Amit Desai and Shri-kant Shivade said the trial court had failed to appreciate the fact that four prosecution wit-nesseses, including the investigating officer, had maintained there were four persons present in the Toyota Land Cruiser when the accident took place and that it was the family driver Ashok Singh who was at the wheel.

Prosecutor Sandeep Shinde, while insisting on

denial of bail to the actor, countered the de-fence's argument, saying it was only at the fag end of the trial that Salman Khan had made a statement under section 313 of CrPC in which he claimed it was Singh who was driving the SUV.

The actor has challenged the findings of the trial court that he was drunk and was driving under the influence of liquor.

Salman has also pleaded that the trial court had wrongly convicted him under the culpable homicide charge because he had no knowledge that he would meet with an accident.

Sessions judge D W Deshpande had on May 6 held Khan guilty of "all charges" levelled against him by the prosecution.

"All charges have been proved against you...What you have to say? the judge asked Salman who was in the dock.

"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 had said.

He was apparently referring to the defence's claims that Singh was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident and that the victims had received injuries after a crane called to lift the SUV had failed to haul it up in one go and dropped it on them.

Apart from being convicted of culpable homi-cide, Khan was also found guilty of offences under section 279 IPC (rash and negligent driv-ing) and sections 337 and 338 IPC (causing hurt by acts endangering life or personal property of others), which prescribes six months jail.

Besides, he was sentenced to undergo jail for six months under sections 181 (driving without licence) and 185 of Motor Vehicles Act (drink driving).

Salman was found guilty under the Bombay Prohibition Act under section 66 (a) and (b) for which he received two months imprisonment


and fine of Rs 500. All sentences will run con-currently.

Reacting to the high court order, the wife of Noorullah Shaikh, the lone person to have been killed in the accident, said she has no complaint against it but insisted that the family should be rendered help.

"The order is right. The accident has already happened, whatever should have not happened has already happened and the person once gone will never come back. We haven't got justice. Nobody is coming to us, they should help us. I had to work in homes to feed my children and raise them," she said.

Her son said,"I think the verdict is fine. Now that Salman has got bail he is happy. He should then do something to eradicate our poverty."

Bollywood celebrities like Rishi Kapoor, Sajid Khan and Rohit Roy welcomed the Bombay High Court's decision to suspend Khan's sen-tence and grant him bail.

Industry veteran Rishi Kapoor, back on Twit-ter after a very short absence due to the online trolls, said, "Back. Welcome reprieve for Sal-man. Unprecedented reaction to this news."

Filmmaker Sajid Khan tweeted, "@BeingSal-manKhan bollywood, fans and his critics will all have to agree to this.. Salman Rules Fridays... I am very happy for the Khan family," Sajid Khan said.

"Looks like someone up there heard all our prayers," actor Rohit Roy posted.

Actress Ameesha Patel, who visited Salman at his residence yesterday, posted, "So happy to hear the good news that @BeingSalmanKhan has got bail. Prayers of all have been answered."

As Bollywood heaved a sigh of relief, former Mumbai police Commissioner and now BJP MP Satyapal Singh struck a discordant note.

"I had said even yesterday, it is very difficult for the poor to get justice in this country," Singh said, adding "it is very difficult to punish those who wield influence".


Why did Salman Khans trial take so long? Because thats how law works in India

Abhinav Sekri, May 7, 2015

C lose to 13 years have passed since FIR No. 326 was registered at Bandra Police Station, after that sombre September morning that saw one pavement-dweller killed and four others maimed by a speeding car that crushed them in their sleep. During this time, the State of Maharashtra has steadily, albeit slowly, proceeded in a trial against the prime accused in this case, actor Salman Khan.

Khan was alleged to have been driving the car rashly, under the influence of alcohol. After a long-winded series of trials that saw plenty of drama, multiple changes of venue, deaths of witnesses and the disappearance of evidence, arguments finally concluded in April 2015. Today, the actor has been found guilty of the charges framed under Sections 304 (Part II), 279, 337, 338 and 429 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) read with Sections 134, 187, 181 and 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. With the exception of Section 304, the remaining sec-tions mostly pertain to rash driving, speeding and consequent injury caused to people and property.

So what exactly transpired during these thirteen years, and why did it take so long? Did it take 13 years only because Khan occupies a more privi-leged position in society than others? Would different charges have made a difference? Did

Khan even have a plausible defence?

Proving One's Case

Is it just a waste of time to have Khan put up a defence when the whole country knows he did it? Thankfully, the law remains blind to public opinion (textually, as one cannot read the mind of the judge!). Criminal law adheres to notions of presuming the innocence of an accused, requiring the prosecution to establish its case beyond all reasonable doubt.The differences between how charges are proved under Section 304-A as against Section 304 certainly affected the defence strategy. To prove a charge under Section 304-A is signifi-cantly simpler than proving the culpable homi-cide of Section 304 (Part II) IPC. For the latter, the prosecution needs to prove the enigma that is a culpable mental state. Simply put: the accused must have committed the act/illegal omission with the knowledge that this would lead to death, in contrast to Section 304-As negligent act, which doesnt require one to have such knowledge.

The retrial began in January 2014, and the defence unsuccessfully, it turned out - sought a direct strategy of seeking an acquittal on all charges. The defence story has been that Khan was not at the wheel, in support of which var-ied theories have been offered (ranging from a confession by his driver to a suggestion that the victims were killed by a crane, not the car). The only eyewitness to this fact, Ravindra Patil (a former constable in the Maharashtra Police who, along with other witnesses, disappeared under mysterious circumstances during the first trial), testified against Khan.

However, he died midway through the first trial in 2007, giving the defence some scope to raise reasonable doubt on that front. In 2014, they opposed the prosecutions request to use Pa-tils recorded statements from the first trial as


evidence in the final trial (unsuccessfully, since the judge allowed the recorded statements to be used). And as is evident from the verdict, the defence, despite all its tactics, failed to establish any reasonable doubt in the mind of the judge regarding Khans guilt.

Trials and Travails

The 13-year long trial was not quite the result of extra-legal considerations attracted by Khan's celebrity, but something that could happen in a trial against anyone, given certain circum-stances.

Currently, the law remains tight-lipped about the grant of adjournments during a case: Sec-tion 309 of the Criminal Procedure Code 1973 [Cr.P.C.] makes it extremely difficult to seek adjournments during recording of evidence. However, theres a great gap between the text and whats practiced.

Lawyers are often busy in other courts; clogged dockets make daily trials difficult; the judge might be on leave; witnesses may not appear in court. Such circumstances make delays inevita-ble in nearly every trial today. The last of these instances of witnesses not appearing was re-sponsible for delaying matters by at least three years in Khans trial.

To compound matters, several documents dis-appeared during the trial. This is unsurprising given the general maintenance of malkhanas at police stations, and a lengthy trial would thus only increase the probability of evidence disap-pearing or deteriorating.

So what explains the sudden speeding up of Khans trial over the last couple of years? It is common practice for the judiciary to tackle long-pending cases and dispose of them faster. Consider a parallel: if you live alone (like young litigators I know), you generally finish the older slice of pizza in the fridge first, knowing that the box you just ordered can wait a while.

That said, a round of applause for Judge Desh-pande, for completing the trial in just over a year and finally concluding the 13-year long travail. The progress since his taking charge can be seen courtesy of the very accessible case

information system run by the The Maharashtra District Courts Website. One can see detailed orders being put up for public view on daily ap-plications.

This is not standard practice and such digital access of district court materials is a rare phe-nomenon in India today. It may well be a by-product of the media following Khan to Court. After all, leaving aside the odd implosion, even the Indian Cricket team performs well when under strict scrutiny!The Problem of the Charge

The particular charges framed against Khan have attracted a great deal of attention and litigation, most of which hinges on the differ-ence between Section 304 and Section 304-A of the IPC. The original charges framed included one under Section 304 IPC. This was challenged before the High Court, which in 2003 amended the charge and replaced Section 304 IPC with Section 304-A.

The State then moved the Supreme Court against this order. Although the High Court was criticised for its approach, the Supreme Court observed that since the trial had begun, it would be unwise to further alter charges. However, it clarified that the power to alter charges re-mained with the Magistrate (under Section 216 Cr.P.C.) and that necessary alterations could be made at a future stage of the trial, if warranted.

Which is exactly what the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate did 10 years later, and placed the case before the Sessions Judge, which is the competent court to try a case under the higher charge of section 304.

By this time, many witnesses had been exam-ined and cross-examined on the charges un-der 304-A IPC, and the defence requested a retrial to allow Khan to defend himself against the more serious charge under Section 304. A retrial was allowed and began in January 2014, culminating in todays conviction of Khan on all charges.

Section 304-A vs. 304 IPC

So why did it matter whether charges were framed under Section 304 of 304-A of the IPC?


The primary reason here, for me at least, was the gravity of punishment. Section 304 pun-ishes culpable homicide not amounting to murder [as defined under Section 299 IPC] and is divided into two parts. We are concerned with the second, which allows for imprisonment up to ten years. Section 304-A punishes causing death by a rash or negligent act, not amounting to culpable homicide, with a maximum of two years imprisonment.

Further, Khan could have immediately sought release on bail following a conviction under Sec-tion 304-A while now under Section 304 IPC, he has been sentenced to five years imprisonment, which requires him to move the High Court for release on bail, pending the filing of an appeal against the conviction. (There are also differ-ences in how the offences are proved, which we will come to later.)

The likelihood of a trial under Section 304-A concluding faster than one under Section 304 IPC is definitely higher. But there is a problem here: if the facts label my actions as rash and negligent and the law creates a specific offence under Section 304-A, should this not override the more general offence under Section 304? I think it should, but the courts disagree and in doing so try to present a rather confusing logic which I wont try and tackle.

The real reason for this strange practice is the difference in potential punishment between the two sections, which has led to a situation where judges incline towards framing charges under Section 304 when the incident appears rather heinous. Those interested in reading further might find useful the Supreme Courts 2012 decision in another high-profile hit-and-run case from Bombay: that of Alistair Pereira (who received three years in jail).

If nothing else, one hopes that the scrutiny sur-rounding Khans trial warrants a re-look at the punishment possible for Section 304-A offenc-es, or a possible reconsideration of the offence itself - as the Supreme Court itself suggested in Alistair Pereiras case.

As it happens in a country obsessed with its celebrities, the nation today is riveted with updates on the case. Khan has appealed against the decision before the Bombay High Court, and has obtained an urgent hearing of his bail peti-tion. While the case has not been the best adver-tisement for the Indian legal system - especially regarding the handling of evidence and wit-nesses - it remains testament to the fact that the wheels of justice grind slow, but grind fine. But for the other victims who survived the incident, justice delayed is as good as justice denied.

(Abhinav Sekhri is an Advocate litigating on criminal law in Delhi. He runs a blog on criminal law, called The Proof of Guilt. Special thanks to Manish G, at the Centre for Social Justice, for his helpful inputs)


From 2002 to 2015: A timeline of events in the Salman Khan hit-and-run case

FP Staff, May 6, 2015


A look at all the charges slapped on Salman Khan in 2002 hit-and-run case



Five years in jail: Salman Khan previously described prison as hell


S alman Khan who was sentenced to five years in prison after he was found guilty of culpable homicide in a 2002 hit and run case, is sadly, no stranger to prison.Khan had to spend a few days in a Jodhpur prison in connection with the Black buck poaching case in 2007, and in an interview after the experience was like 'entering hell'.

The actor had a heart to heart chat with Shubha Shetty-Saha of DNA, and here is what he said about his experiences and perceptions of prison: (read the full interview here)


Hit-and-run case: Salman Khan sentenced for 5 years, to be taken into custody today

PTI, May 6, 2015

B ollywood superstar Salman Khan was today convicted by a Mumbai sessions court of culpable homicide not amount-ing to murder in the 2002 hit and run case and has been sentenced to five years in jail. The ac-tor will be taken into custody today and will be taken to Arthur Road jail later tonight.

Khan will have to take his bail plea to the High Court since he has been sentenced to a term greater than three years.

The judgement in the 13-year-old case, whose trial saw many twists and turns, was delivered by Judge D W Deshpande where the 49-year-old actor and his family were present. Signifi-cantly, the court held that the actor was driving under the influence of alcohol and also did not have a driving license.

The court relied upon judgements in Alistair Pereira and Nikhil Nanda BMW case of Delhi while convicting Khan. It also asked what he had to say on the verdict to which he denied charges saying he was not driving the car at the time of mishap.

After the conviction, Khan's lawyer began argu-ments on quantum of punishment in the case.

A tight security blanket was thrown around the

court, where Salman's family including brothers Arbaaz, Sohail and sister Arpita Khan had ar-rived early this morning ahead of the verdict.

One person was killed and four others were injured on the night of 28 September, 2002 in suburban Bandra when Salman's Toyota Land Cruiser rammed into a Bakery. The victims were sleeping on the pavement when the SUV ran over them.

A Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate, who con-ducted the trial under lesser charge of rash and negligent driving, which carries a maximum punishment of two years, had in 2012 slapped the more serious offence of culpable homicide and committed the matter to the sessions court.

The popular actor was tried afresh under the harsher charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder which is punishable with imprisonment upto 10 years.

While the prosecution had insisted that a drunk Khan was driving the Land Cruiser, the actor had claimed that it was his driver Ashok Singh who was behind the wheel. Singh has endorsed the defence's claim.

The defence had also argued that police had not obtained finger prints from the steering wheel to find out who was driving the vehicle.

Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat has alleged that Khan was driving the vehicle after consuming 'Bacardi rum' at a bar, a charge denied by the actor, who said he had just a glass of water.

Nurullah Mehboob Sharif was killed in the accident in which Kalim Mohammed Pathan, Munna Malai Khan, Abdullah Rauf Shaikh and Muslim Shaikh had been injured.


Salman Khan sentenced to five years in jail: The witnesses that mattered

PTI, May 7, 2015

W hen a sessions court found Salman Khan guilty of a range of charges in-cluding culpable homicide and other offences, the court would have relied on a lot of evidence and witness statements to convict him. Here are the most crucial witness testimonies that might have influenced the verdict against the actor.

The eyewitnesses who stood by their statements on Salman Khan

Salman khan verdict_Solaris Images_267754Khan was sentenced to five years in jail. Solaris imagesMannu Khan, Mohammed Kalim Iqbal Pathan and Muslim Shaikh were employees of the American Express who testified that they had seen the actor on the night of the incident. Mannu Khan told the court that he had seen the actor emerge from the driver's seat follow-ing the incident and that the actor was so drunk that he fell out of the car after the incident.

While Muslim Shaikh confirmed the actor was driving the car, Pathan confirmed that Khan which side of the vehicle he got out from but didn't confirm whether he was behind the wheel.

Ramsare Pande, the owner of a dairy near the American Express bakery, also said that he saw the actor emerge from the vehicle after the incident.

The police bodyguard who was with Khan at the time

Ravindra Patil didn't live to see the verdict and though he was deemed hostile by the prosecu-tion had given a statement in which he had said the actor had gone to the JW Marriott with singer Kamaal Khan on the night of the acci-dent. Patil said that Khan was drunk when he was driving and he had warned the actor that

he was speeding just before the accident took place. Patil died of tuberculosis in 2007.

The defence lawyer had called Patil a liar and said that he had been sleeping at the time of the incident.

The witnesses who proved Salman Khan was drunk while driving

While Salman Khan's defence was that he wasn't drunk at the wheel when his car crashed into the American Express Bakery. However, the prosecution produced a witness, Dattaray Khobrajirao Bhalshankar from the forensic sci-ence laboratory, who corroborated the fact that the actor's blood sample was found to contain 62 mg of alcohol while the highest amount found in a person would be no more than 40-45 mg and that would be only if they were taking medication.

Shankar's testimony may have proved to be enough to prove that the actor was driving while drunk despite the fact there were other witness-es who claimed otherwise. While one witness claimed the actor didn't smell of alcohol after the accident, Molay Baug, the employee of a bar where the actor was seen prior to the incident, said that while he had served alcohol to the ac-tor's table he wasn't sure if Khan had consumed it.

The repentant driver who turned up as a witness 13 years later to confess

Legal experts quoted by the Times of India say that the arrival of the defence witness who claimed after 13 years was a bad move. Lawyer Nitin Pradhan was quoted in the report as say-ing that to prove his claim that he wasn't behind the wheel of his SUV in 2002, the actor should have deposed, placed himself for cross examina-tion and then let the driver depose as a defence witness.


Singh had claimed that he was the driver of the car on the night of the accident and the actor had exited from the driver's seat only because his door was jammed.

"From day one of the accident, I have been say-ing that I was driving the vehicle and not Sal-man Khan. But nobody listened, and I was not aware what I should do further," Singh told the court.

However, the prosecution pointed out that none of the witnesses had corroborated this claim and no one remembered seeing Singh on the spot.

The actor's claim that he wasn't behind the wheel backfired with the court saying that it had found no evidence to suggest that the ac-tor wasn't behind the wheel at the time of the accident.


Reactions to Salmans sentencing


Salman fans celebrate at his residence as HC suspends 5-year sentence

PTI, May 8, 2015

M umbai: As the Bombay High Court on Friday suspended the five-year sentence awarded to Salman Khan in the 2002 hit-and-run case, scores of his fans who had converged at his residence in suburban Bandra in Mumbai celebrated.

A huge crowd including curious onlookers and admirers had gathered outside Galaxy apartments ahead of the court hearing on the 49-year-old actor's appeal against his convic-tion.

As soon as the news of his bail flashed across news channels, fans started celebrating and dancing resulting in traffic disruptions in the area for a while.

A posse of security personnel, including a team of State Reserve Police Force, was deployed in the area.

Meanwhile, dressed in casuals with his sun glasses on, Salman left for sessions court at around 1.30 pm to execute a fresh bail bond even as celebrities including actor Anupam Kher, Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, music director Anu Malik, director duo Abbas-Mastan visited his house.

Earlier in the day, Salman's sister Alivra Agni-

hotri, was present for the hearing at the High Court along with Congress leader Baba Siddiq-ui. His brothers Arbaaz and Sohail chose to stay with Salman at home.


Salman Khans bail justified or unusual? Lawyers divided over Bombay HC decision

Tarique Anwar, May 8, 2015

N ew Delhi: It took 13 years for a conclu-sion in the hit-and-run case involving Salman Khan, but Fridays decision of the Bombay High Court, granting bail to the actor after he was convicted and sentenced to five years in jail by the sessions court leaves the case open again. The High Court had granted the actor interim bail for two days on Wednes-day; after the lapse of the period, his appeal for suspension of the sentence was once again heard and he was granted permanent bail till next order. How does the legal fraternity view the latest development?

Explaining the grounds of the bail, advocate KC Mittal, senior lawyer of the Delhi High Court, "In a criminal appeal, courts look into the con-duct of the accused, whether there is any viola-tion of natural justice and also broadly on the facts of the case to reach the conclusion that the case is fit for grant of bail. Courts always keep in mind that the accused should be kept in cus-tody or granted bail on the basis of the facts and circumstances of the case. In this case, the order has been passed considering all these aspects."

Raising questions on charging the actor un-der Section 304 Part II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), the veteran lawyer says even if alcohol was found in the blood sample of the accused, it does not amount to culpable

homicide. "Even the honourable judge has made the same observation as I came to know from initial reports. The observation has merits," he said. The court has observed that slapping Sec-tion 304 Part II of the IPC needs further consid-eration.

Similarly, Mittal added, another fact that has emerged is "non-examination of Kamal Khan, a singer, who was stated to be in the car at the time of the incident". The court has also said that "...a number of arguable points have been raised, which need consideration". Salmans counsel Amit Desai told the court that despite interrogation by the investigating officer, the statement of Ashok Singh, the driver of the ac-tor, was not recorded.

The defence lawyer also brought to the notice of the court that the trial court did not accept the statements of Salmans body guard Ravin-dra Patil, the key witness of the case who is no more, despite the fact he went on record during an interview saying that there were four persons in the car when it ran into a bakery killing one and injuring three on the fateful night of 28 September, 2002.

Mittal also wondered why the actor was not provided a copy of the judgement soon after the pronouncement of the trial courts verdict on Wednesday. "I fail to understand why the copy of the judgement was not kept ready at the time of its pronouncement to afford proper opportu-nity for an appeal," he said.

Supreme Court advocate Rebecca Mammen John finds the bail to Salman unusual. "I know nothing about the Salman Khan case except that it was a hit-and-run case and that a poor citizen of this country died. I also know that Salman Khan was convicted and handed out a five-year sentence. When a person is sentenced to three years or below, the CrPc allows the trial court to suspend the sentence to enable the accused to


file an appeal in the higher court.

"But where a five-year sentence is handed out, that rule does not apply and the accused is taken into custody forthwith .The High Court's order on Wednesday allowing him to go home the same day and it's order today suspending his sentence pending final disposal of his ap-peal, without his having served any time, is very unusual. Processes must be respected and the law must apply equally to everyone," she said.

Terming the High Courts decision justified and as per law, Justice Kalimullah Khan, retired judge of Allahabad High Court, said, "Section 389 of CrPc confers the power on the appellate court to suspend the sentence awarded to the accused appellant and to release the appellant on bail. It provides that pending any appeal by a convicted person, the appellate court may, for reasons to be recorded by it him writing, order that the execution of the sentence or order ap-peal against be suspended and, also, if he is in confinement, that he be released on bail or on his own bond."

He further says since the offences under which accused Salman Khan was prosecuted are not punishable with death or imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term of not less than 10 years, the appellate court (the Bombay High Court in this case) "need not give opportunity to the public prosecutor to petition in writing against such release".

"The Bombay High Court is fully justified in passing such orders, said Justice Khan.

Offering the same arguments in support of the Bombay High Court order, senior Advocate Feroz Khan Ghazi said there was no irregularity in the HC order. "Being the appellate court in this case, the High Court is empowered enough to grant him or her bail."

Had the sentence been for less than or up to three years, the same trial court would have released him on a bail bond pending appeal in higher court, he added.


Meherbani, Shukriya: Salman thanks fans for their support, blessings

Sachin Gokhale, May 8, 2015

On reaching home from the Mumbai Sessions Court Salman posed for his fans with his mother Salma and dad Salim. Firstpost/Sachin Gokhale

As expected, Salman was dramatic in his reaction, waving out to his fans in different styles. First-post/Sachin Gokhale


He also warned fans not to jump the police barricade, threatening to return back inside the house if they misbehaved and didn't clear the area soon. Firstpost/Sachin Gokhale

And fans gathered outside Salman Khan's Bandra residence had to face the lathis of cops as they tried their best to manage traffic. Firstpost/Sachin Gokhale


Evidently, all those who wanted to go to Bandra's famous Band Stand, had to face Salman's fans. Firstpost/Sachin Gokhale


UnBHAIased ruling? #SalmanVerdict rules Twitter after judge finds Khan guilty of culpable homicide


T witter has predictably been aflutter thanks to the verdict by a Mumbai sessions court that found Salman Khan guilty of culpable homicide, thirteen years after he is believed to have run over pavement dwellers, killing one person.Bollywood actor and accused in a hit-and-run case Salman Khan. Sachin Gokhale/FirstpostSalman Khan has been convicted in the 2002 hit and run case. Sachin Gokhale/Firstpost#SalmanVerdict was unsurprisingly the top trend on Twitter, given that it was the most discussed topic on the social media site even before the verdict was pronounced.

The tweets were representational of almost every emotion humanly possible. From anger to disbe-lief to sadness to joy to self righteousness, it was all there, along with a (un?)healthy dose of Twit-ter wit.

Now is the time to truly Be Human...


Roads garib ke baap ki nahi hain: Tone deaf Bollywood supports Salman

FP Staff May 6, 2015

S alman Khan was sentenced to five years in jail in the 2002 hit-and-run case on Wednesday.The reactions to this verdict can be distinguished into two broad classifications: those who are for the "fair justice" and are glad to know that nobody is above the law and those who are dis-appointed with the judgment and think Salman is good man who deserves better.

It is no surprise that most of the Bollywood celebrities fall in the later category. You can call it per-sonal loyalty or even industry loyalty, but celebrities who have tweeted out their opinion on Twitter have stood in support of Salman.

While the likes of Karan Johar, Dia Mirza and Alia Bhatt have admitted that their reactions are emotional and they extend their support to Salman's family, Abhijeet and Farah Ali Khan have tweeted to say that people shouldn't sleep on the roads.

Abhijeet has gone further to say that he was homeless for a year and still didn't resort to the streets.

Here are some tweets in Salman's support:


Sending Salman to jail will not heal my leg: Victim of hit-and-run

PTI, May 6, 2015

M umbai: "Compensation matters more than conviction," say the victims of the 2002 hit-and-run case in which Bollywood star Salman Khan has been sen-tenced to five years in jail.

Abdullah Rauf Shaikh, who lost a leg in the acci-dent, said, "Nobody came to visit me in the last 13 years. I am forced to do petty jobs to support my family and face a lot of problems."

"However, I have no hard feelings for him (Salman).I still watch his movies," he said, add-ing they were not pressurised by anyone.

"Compensation matters more than conviction, my health and work suffered," Shaikh said.

"If Salman is punished, I will not be benefited in any way as neither my leg will heal nor my problems would go away."

Instead if they compensate us then we do not have any problem," he said, recalling that he was 22 years old when he lost his leg in the incident.

The wife of Nurullah Mehboob Sharif, who died in the accident, said, "We were told we will get a compensation of Rs 10 lakh, but what will we do of that amount at this time of inflation."

She said that she would be benefited if her son gets a job.


Farahs gems: Jewelry designer says people shouldnt sleep on roads


B ollywood actor Salman Khan was convicted for culpable homicide in the 13-year old hit-and-run case and sentenced to five years imprisonment on Wednesday. Unsurprisingly, the film and glamour industry came out in full support of the star, from tweeting out in his defense to rushing to his Bandra residence.

But some celebs took the adage 'offense is the best form of defense' too seriously, as they blamed the government, the poor and even the roads but Salman, for the the crime and conviction.At the forefront of this offense was Farah Khan Ali, who is a jewelry designer by profession but is probably best known for being the sister of actor Zayed Khan and wife of DJ Aqeel.

She tweeted out in vociferous defense of Salman with ridiculous reasons for why the accident oc-curred and why the punishment was too harsh.

Firstly, she implied that the the pavement dwelling victims were responsible for the hit-and-run as they should not have been sleeping on the road in the first place because it is 'as dangerous as crossing the tracks'.

She then went on to say that Salman is a good human who did not want to kill anyone but had to pay the price. Plus his punishment shouldn't be too harsh because the livelihood of many people depended on Salman being out of prison.

Here are some of Farah's gems (pun intended) on Twitter


She went on to clarify that her tweets were aimed at the government's failure rather than mocking the poor.

In an interview with CNN IBN, Ali admitted that Salman was at fault but insisted that he would never have killed someone if no one was sleeping on the footpath. "Sleeping on the footpath is dan-gerous, it's like saying that you want to be run over by a car, whether the man is drunk or whether it is a normal accident. It's like crossing the train tracks," said Ali.

"Salman made a mistake and he deserves to be punished for it but five years is too harsh. Even the victims don't want him to get a harsh punishment," she added.


Shares of Eros, Mandhana tank as Salman Khan gets 5 years in jail

PTI, May 6, 2015

E ros Media and Mandhana Industries Ltd, the entities associated with Samlan Khan, came under intense selling pres-sure today after the Bollywood actor was con-victed in the 2002 hit-and-run case.

Reacting to the news, Eros International scrip plunged 5.66 percent to Rs 381 on the BSE, while Mandhana Industries slumped 4.74 per cent to Rs 263.10.

Mandhana Industries is associated with the actor's NGO 'Being Human'. It has an exclu-sive licence agreement with Being Human - the Salman Khan Foundation - for designing, mar-keting and distributing Being Human Clothing Products.

Eros International Media had in December an-nounced its collaboration on the two maiden productions of Salman Khan Films - Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Hero.

Salman Khan was convicted of all charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, in the 2002 hit-and-run case.

The court has sentenced him to 5-year impris-onment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.The actor was convicted for ramming his car, while drunk, into a roadside bakery at subur-ban Bandra in the early hours of September 28, 2002, killing one person and injuring four others.


Out of love for bhaijaan, Salman Khan-themed restaurant in Mumbai shuts for a day

Zenia DCunha May 7, 2015

A lot was riding on the verdict of the Salman Khan 13-year old hit-and-run case, and his con-viction sparked off a chain of diverse reactions across sectors.From the falling shares of Eros International Media to the ceaseless defence of the actor by the film industry, which almost bordered on ridiculous, the actor's conviction created a furore on Wednes-day.

But no one seems to be as affected as Khan's fans. While conjoined twins Saba and Farah from Bi-har, who are supposed to Salman's Rakhi-sisters went on a fast to show their support, another fan offered to be imprisoned in Salman's place.

Closer home to Mumbai, a Salman Khan-themed restaurant called Bhaijaanz in Bandra, shut shop for a day on Wednesday after the Bollywood actor was convicted and sentenced to five years rigor-ous imprisonment.

Bhaijaanz was started on 9 March 2015 by a group of die-hard Salman fans and is practically a shrine to the actor.

"We shut the restaurant for the love of Salman Khan," Zafar Sayed Yusuf, one of the co-owners, told Firstpost.

"We were at the court the whole day and by evening there was no point opening it. You can call it a protest or you can say it is our fan following for bhaijaan," he said.


Before the verdict was announced, Bhaijaanz were planning to announce a 50 percent discount if the actor was acquitted. The offer still stands, depending on the high court's decision, but Yusuf has even bigger plans if it goes in Salman's favour.

"We are hoping the high court releases him. If he gets out, we will surely invite him over to Bhai-jaanz," he said.

Not just the owners, the employees of Bhaijaanz are also huge fans of Salman. Basu Rawat, the cashier at the restaurant said, "We were shut yesterday because we were very sad with the verdict, he is a good man and should not have been punished. We are open again today."

Everything at Bhaijaanz, from the decor to the menu, is an ode to Khan. The walls of the restaurant are covered with his posters while the menu is categorized according to his films and songs. Sam-ple this- the rice section is called 'chulbul chawal' and the teas are under 'garam chai ki pyali ho'. There is even an entire page dedicated to 'Dabangg 1' and 'Dabangg 2' dishes.

The restaurant's decision to show solidarity with Salman sparked off reactions on social media after their official account tweeted images of the shut down. "Many people have actually come here to take pictures today after reading about in on Facebook and Twitter," said Yusuf.

While Salman's fate is yet to be sealed, it is evident that despite all his faults, the man's fans are willing to go to great lengths for him.


What does the ruling mean for Brand Salman and his movies?


Brand Salman in grave dangerDeepak Ajwani May 7, 2015

J ust a few months ago Salman Khan made headlines for all the right reasons: He made it to the top of Forbes India Celebrity 100 List , claiming the throne from two-time list topper Shah Rukh Khan, earned a whopping Rs 244.5 crore last year and topped both the fame and earnings rank. Brand Salman was at its peak.

Today, though, there is a twist in the tale. With the Mumbai sessions court verdict sentenc-ing him to five years in prison for the 2002 hit-and-run case when he drove an SUV onto a pavement in Mumbai, killing one person, brand Salman is in grave danger.

With more than 10 brands that he endorses and two upcoming movies (Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and Bajrangi Bhaijan), about Rs 250 crore ride on brand Salman. Although he has received an interim bail for two days before he goes to pris-on, what remains to be seen is how this court verdict changes his career trajectory. If one goes by what happened with his friend and co-star Sanjay Dutt when he went behind bars, this is certainly not good news. He stands to lose it all.

Harish Bijoor, CEO at Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, says there are three brand entities around Salman Khan: First is brand Salman himself, second is the brand Being Human created and promoted by him, while the third is the series of brands he endorses. According to Bijoor, the

verdict will affect each of these brands differ-ently.

To the first it will mean an erosion of personal equity and integrity quotient. His hero status of being a clean and a straight-forward person gets affected. For the brand Being Human it shouldnt make any difference at all. It is the only brand that will continue his endorsement, and convey the softer side of Salman Khan. In fact, it will be a revival vehicle for the brand Salman Khan, says Bijoor. So the brand Khan helped create will, in turn, help resuscitate his own brand equity if he serves the five year sen-tence, believes Bijoor.

When Khan spoke to us in December, he agreed with this. Being Human, Khan says, is as big as he is. Actually, if this current dream run of success is being attributed to his work with the foundation, and if, in effect, it was the founda-tion that lifted him, surely it was even bigger than him? Besides, thats what all the brand extensions and expansions are for: To ensure that the money keeps coming in, and that Being Human outlives him.

On the commercial brands that Khan endorses, Bijoor says, Most brands are fickle; they sup-port only positive sentiments. So I suspect they will withdraw. They have already benefited from the upside; soon they will stop airing his en-dorsements.

The stock market has already reacted by push-ing down prices of Eros International by 5 per-cent, while shares of Mandhana Industries are down by 4 percent. Eros has recently acquired global distribution rights for two of Khan's up-coming movies, while Mandhana Industries has the mandate to design and distribute the Being Human clothing range.

What we wrote in December 2014 about Being Human highlights the importance and risk his favourite brand carries today if his fans fall out of favour and stop buying its merchandise:


Being Human started life as a T-shirt. It is now a clothing brand, sold in 14 countries, with 30 standalone stores and 160 shop-in-shop outlets in India; abroad, there are 80 shop-in-shops in GCC countries and 55 in Europe. (Licensee Mandhana Industries makes, distributes and markets its products; Khan oversees design and communication.) It is now expanding into a lifestyle brand, with fragrances, watches, gym equipment, and other products. In 2013-14, the license brought Rs 132 crore; all of Khan's share it goes to Being Human, the charitable trust he set up in 2007, and to which he has assigned the brand in perpetuity. It has, since then, disbursed over Rs 32.5 crore through its health care and education projects.

All this comes to nought if brand Salman Khan gets affected by the prolonged jail sentence. His movie revenues, the brands he endorses or the foundation he runs entirely depend on one entityhim. With him behind bars, all the work comes to a grinding halt and many more pro-ducers who had lined up projects with him, but havent begun shooting, might need to replace him rather than wait for five years.

Bollywood, though, has rallied behind him and have been tweeting in his favour. From his protg Arjun Kapoor to co-star Sonakshi Sinha, singer Mika singh to actors Rishi Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Bipasha Basu and even Alia Bhatt all have expressed shock on the verdict and sympathy for Khan.

One of the most bankable Bollywood stars, who has proved his mettle time and again at the box-office in the past few years, he has lined up some big releases in the next few years. Here are some that have been announced:

a) Bajrangi Bhaijaan: To be directed by Kabir Khan whose earlier film Ek Tha Tiger earned more than Rs 200 crore. Bajrangi Bhaijaan has been scheduled to release on Eid this year. Khan was shooting for this film at Srinagar and had to fly back to Mumbai for the court verdict today.

b) Prem Ratan Dhan Payo: After many years, Salman has once again teamed up with Sooraj Barjatya and the film was slated to release on Diwali. Khan plays a double role in this movie after many years. He last did a double role for Judwaa (1997), which was a hit.

c) Shuddhi: This is a film by Karan Johar and has already seen many changes in its star cast. Earlier Hrithik Roshan was supposed to act in it, then finally Khan agreed and it would have been the first lead star movie of Khan with Jo-har. But no one knows its fate now.

Two other films that had been lined up but production was yet to begin are No Entry Mein Entry and Yash Raj Films Sultan to be directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, where Khan plays a boxer.

A few months ago when we met Khan, he shared this about his bad boy image: Im still the bad boy. But to the bad people. Im no saint, dude. I party. I party like hell when I want to. I still do that, but I come back, to this. The gesture encompassed both his acting and the charitable foundation.

The movie producers who bet on him and brands that opted for his endorsement would be pinning their hopes on his comeback.

This article was first published in Forbes India


Five years of jail, so what? Its not the death of Brand Salman


W hen Salman Khan is sentenced to jail, there is a lot more than prison time at stake. Given that he is one of the stalwarts of India's entertainment industry, a lot of money - be it from movies in the pipeline, endorsements or other engagements - is on the line.

Currently, bhai is everywhere. From movie posters to advertising billboards to pop up ads on the websites we browse. And he brings the cash rolling in.

According to Forbes, Khan was the richest In-dian celebrity in 2014, raking in a whopping Rs. 244.5 crore during the year. Another site listed him as the tenth richest actor in the world, on a list topped by Jerry Seinfeld and featuring the likes of Tom Hanks, Will Smith and Brad Pitt.

The success of movies like Dabangg and Ek Tha Tiger have helped to strengthen his brand value, and according to industry estimates, there is

around Rs 200 crore riding on the actor in terms of future projects. And these are just con-firmed films like Bajrangi Bhaijaan" and "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo" which are nearing comple-tion.

If rumoured projects like Anees Bazmee's No Entry sequel and "Kick sequel are taken into account, the figures will shoot up.

According to a report in Mint, an estimated Rs.45 crore is riding on his brand endorse-ments, according to celebrity management professionals. The report further notes:"Salman Khan is the brand ambassador for a clutch of brands, including soft drink Thums Up, deter-gent brand Wheel, P.N. Gadgil Jewellers and Astral Pipes. He has also hosted the reality show Bigg Boss on Colors for the last few seasons."

In addition to that. his Being Human brand, which is being retailed across the country in partnership with Mandhana Industries Ltd is


also a money spinner. Here's an infographic on just how much he's estimated to be worth:

According to this report in the Indian Express, Being Human apparel currently accounts for 10 percent of Mandhanas global sales and brought in roughly Rs 170 crore, up 29.7 percent from Rs 131 crore a year earlier.

That - to put it bluntly - is a lot of money, all of it riding on the lasting endearments of brand Salman.

The importance of the actor in relation to these projects was evident in the fact that the shares of Mandhana Industries Ltd plummeted after the verdict. Of course, it is hard to pinpoint how much of this was influenced by the verdict and how much of it was caused by the Sensex crash, but experts quoted in the report say that some part of the fall was definitely due to the convic-tion.

Is this a sign of things to come for brand Sal-man? Will everything he is associated with, lose value? Experts at this point are still divided.

The Bollywood industry so far it seems, is not overly worried. Industry expert Amod Mehra told the IANS news agency that There is no panic in the film industry or in anybody's mind, thanks to the laws in India. It is because we all are very clear that there are other ways to come out as well like bail. So there is no question of panicking over his arrest as of now".

The report also quoted another trade expert, Vinod Mirani as saying, "If the decision is not in his favour, he will appeal to a higher court. Nobody goes to jail so fast. He will appeal and then that court will undertake proceedings of the case which will take time".

A good point, it would seem, considering that the verdict in the case has come after 13 years in

the first place.

In terms of endorsements, experts seem to be of the opinion that although his local endorse-ments may not be affected, multinational deals may suffer.

"Salman's popularity, in absolute terms, would not have gone down much. The problem is with his conviction. Certainly multinational brands (and large Indian brands) cannot be seen to be associated with a convict -- even if they would love to leverage his obvious popularity," Story-board editor Anant Rangaswami said.

As far as the fate of Being Human is concerned, Mandhana Industries appear to be quite posi-tive. The Express report quoted Manish Mand-hana, managing director of the company as saying, "As of now, I dont see any immediate impact on our sales. Our business has grown by leaps and bounds in the last three years and will continue to grow.

Experts however feel that the brand is likely to suffer a crippling blow, with some saying that it is difficult for associated brands to recover from hits to an endorsers credibility.

At this point however, it is hard to say for sure, what the impact on 'Brand Salman' will be, given that we don't even know how much of his jail sentence he will actually have to serve.

The actor got bail within an hour of his sentenc-ing, and could well be allowed to stay out of jail while he appeals the verdict. As pointed out by a Bollywood industry expert in this Firstpost story, It takes a lot of time to send somebody to jail. It can even take ten years and in 10-15 years, he will be over 60 years old".

That's plenty of time for 'Brand Salman' to keep motoring on.


No Entry to Kick: With Rs 200 crore riding on Salman Khan, here are the films in jeopardy

IANS, May 6, 2015

N ew Delhi: After a lot of twists and turns in the 2002 hit-and-run case involv-ing superstar Salman Khan, the actor was found guilty of all charges against him on Wednesday.

But despite being held guilty by the sessions court, the film industry does not seem to be too anxious, despite over Rs.200 crore riding on the actor.

This is the slow legal processes in India.

Industry expert Amod Mehra said that no one can imagine Salman being soon lodged behind bars.

There is no panic in the film industry or in any-body's mind, thanks to the laws in India. It is because we all are very clear that there are other ways to come out as well like bail. So there is no question of panicking over his arrest as of now, Mehra told IANS.

On the same note, another trade expert, Vinod Mirani said that even if he is sentenced by the court, Salman is unlikely to be sent to jail soon.

If the decision is not in his favour, he will ap-peal to a higher court. Nobody goes to jail so fast. He will appeal and then that court will un-dertake proceedings of the case which will take

time, Mirani told IANS.

The "Wanted" actor has been facing trial for 13 years in the Bandra accident case. In the early hours of September 28, 2002, an SUV drove over the pavement where some people were sleeping, killing one person and ijuring four others. Salman is the main accused in the ac-cident and a Mumbai Sessions Court is schedule to pronounce its verdict on Wednesday.

A glance at his professional assignments show Salman is gearing up for several offerings at the box office this year. Two of his much-anticipat-ed films -- Bajrangi Bhaijaan" and "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo" are nearing completion.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan, which also stars Kareena Kapoor Khan, is about a Brahmin girl and Mus-lim boy, while the "Dabangg" star will be seen revisiting his popular cinema name 'Prem' in Sonam Kapoor starrer family entertainer.

The total cost of the two films would be around Rs. 200 crore plus. So that is the amount riding on him at present, Mehra said.

If rumoured projects like Anees Bazmee's No Entry sequel and "Kick sequel are taken into account, the figures will shoot up. But Mirani asserts that there is no cause to worry as of now.

It takes a lot of time to send somebody to jail. It can even take ten years, Mirani said.

Citing actor Sanjay Dutt's example, where the actor was sent to prison after several years, Mehra said nothing serious will happen imme-diately.

He said it will take about 10-15 years for Salman to go behind bars till then he will be over 60 years old," Mehra said.

Sanjay Dutt is in jail for illegal possession of arms during the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts and


riots.

The film industry may not worry, but if industry reports are true, 49-year-old Salman has not been accepting any new projects till the verdict is pronounced.

The trouble for the actor, who enjoys wide

female fan following with his dance moves and witty one-liners, will not be overwith the acci-dent case.

The dark clouds of Blackbuck case is still hover-ing over him. The actor is facing trial for hunt-ing a black buck during the shooting of Hum Saath Saath Hain in 1998.


The Firstpost Verdict


Hit and run affirms Salmans amazing record: 3 convictions, six days in jail

Sandipan Sharma, May 9, 2015

N ext time you hesitate in taking the wheel after getting sloshed, get inspired by the true story of Salman Khan.But for the minor inconvenience of having a breath analyzer thrust down your throat and getting a small ticket-which can be managed if you are lucky to find somebody waiting for chai paani -there is very little to fear.

Get drunk, drive like a Formula One racer and don't bother stepping on the brake. In case you notice human beings on the road, don't worry about Being Human. Bear in mind singer Ab-hijieet's advice: 'kutta road pe soyega, road pe marega.'

The latest twist in the story of Salman's hit-and-run case has just one moral: the faster you can drive, the more money you can burn, the farther you can run from the law.

While the court took 13 years to send Salman to jail, his lawyers took just a few hours to get him out on bail. Indeed, a great advertisement for drunken driving!

The Bombay High Court is justified in suspend-ing Salman's 5-year sentence. When a con-vict approaches a higher court with an appeal against a lower court's judgement, the judge is

right in granting bail till the case is decided to ensure that an innocent man doesn't suffer. This is the established procedure in India and the High Court has followed the standard practice.

But the problem with the system is that it works best for the rich and the privileged. For many others, securing bail is impossible even when they have not been convicted and are just facing trial.

A few years ago, The Hindu had revealed that more than 75 percent prisoners in Indian jails are undertrials. More than 3200 persons out of the nearly 2.8 lakh undertrials have already spent five years in jail.

Compare this with a celebrity like Salman Khan, accused of repeat offences. Around ten years ago, Salman was sentenced to a year in jail for poaching protected animals in Jodhpur. Some months later, he was sentenced again this time for five years.

The five-year sentence in the hit-and-run case by the Mumbai court means Salman has been convicted thrice so far, he is facing a combined sentence of 11 years. Yet, he has spent just a few days behind bars.

Salman's hit-and-run case has often been com-pared with that of Alistair Anthony Pereira's, who was sent to jail for three years for driving his car over six persons in Mumbai. Though a lower court had let off Pereira with just six months in jail, the Supreme Court had later upheld the tougher punishment granted by the Bombay High Court. It had also commented that the punishment in such cases should be much more. Pereira, like Salman, was found guilty under Section 304 (2) of the IPC.

It would be relevant to quote a part of the SC verdict on Pereira.


"The object should be to protect society and to deter the criminal in achieving the avowed object of law by imposing appropriate sentence. It is expected that the courts would operate the sentencing system so as to impose such sen-tence which reflects the conscience of the soci-ety and the sentencing process has to be stern where it should be."

The court will be failing in its duty if appro-priate punishment is not awarded for a crime which has been committed not only against the individual victim but also against the society to which the criminal and victim belong.

The punishment to be awarded for a crime must not be irrelevant but it should conform to and be consistent with the atrocity and brutality with which the crime has been perpetrated, the enormity of the crime warranting public abhor-rence and it should "respond to the society's cry for justice against the criminal."

Even the Supreme Court would be wondering if we have learnt the right lesson from its verdict in Pereira's case: that fear of severe punishment will deter people from drunk driving.

Or, if Salman's story has a more powerful mes-sage: drink, drive; don't worry about the pun-ishment.


Sabse bada rupaiya: Did you think Salman Khan would be jailed for 5 years? Pity

Piyashree Dasgupta, May 8, 2015

D id you OD on your mid-week beer, visu-alising Salman Khan serving a watery dal to fellow prisoners in your very Bollywood-tinted imagination? Did you have wonderful jokes lined up about how the number of days he spent in jail would be directly propor-tional to the number of packs on his abdomen? Did you relish the deep irony in the name of his blockbuster Wanted? Though you couldn't be-lieve this was happening, did you still say 'jai ho' to Indian law when Khan finally got sentenced, over a decade after he had run over men sleep-ing on a pavement, killing one?

The Mumbai sessions court's decision shocked us. The intense anguish and immense joy dis-played by fans and critics alike after the verdict was announced on Wednesday both showed how we are reconciled to the fact that the law works differently for different people in the country. And when something to the contrary happens, we can't believe our eyes or ears. Jubi-lant or aghast, we were all in shock.

No wonder then, from memes to jokes, from long paeans to the Indian justice system to articles on what the judgement means to us, all forms of the media were flooded with evidence that few expected Salman Khan to be really convicted.

Actor Arjun Kapoor tweeted this after the verdict came.


It's quite ironic that Kapoor finds the incident of Khan's conviction 'fickle' - given that run-ning over a man and killing him is a punishable offence by the law of the land. We, who don't enjoy the privileges of being Salman Khan, are dead sure that we would be jailed if we were guilty of an accident. Yet, we were shocked that the court eventually nailed Khan.

But, as you must have gathered by now, you can to snap out of that reverie already. Khan's sen-tence has been suspended by the Bombay High Court. Salman Khan's lawyers will file an appeal against the sessions court verdict. The state will appeal. Then the high court will consider the appeal. Depending on the verdict the matter will then go to the Supreme Court.

Which means Khan is not going to jail anytime soon.

This sounds more like the country you know. You have gone back to having realistic expecta-tions of your country again - like feeling suicidal while trying to get some job done at a govern-ment office, not expecting government web-sites to work, being terrified of making a trip to the police station even if to lodge a complaint. Because one belief you have always maintained about the country has just been proven true again after one brief, and what seems now aberrant, moment. That while you and the rich, popular and the powerful are technically under the same system, it reality it works differently for different classes of society. You, unfortu-nately, aren't the one it favours at all times.

Honestly, the Bombay High Court's decision is not surprising. It's bolstered legally too. "As per the country's law, in a case in which the sentence is less than seven years and the deci-sion has been appealed then bail is the rule, jail is the exception. The court has to be convinced that there is no case for bail and not the other way round," said a lawyer friend.

However, given it took 13 years for the coun-try's judiciary to pin Khan down, the bail, which came before you could blink, feels exceptionally unfair. Two hours to bail. Two days to sentence suspension. While it's might be legally sound, one cannot help but feel it takes ages to convict the rich and the famous for heinous crimes, but with a good and expensive lawyer, it doesn't take them too long to get out of the clutches of law.

Contrast this to case of the Class XII student in Uttar Pradesh, who had posted a status update on Facebook critical of Azam Khan. The mo-ment the minister's PRO filed a complaint, he was arrested and taken into custody. The pro-ceedings took its own pace and didn't happen super fast, like it did in case of Khan. That's the difference between a common man at the re-ceiving end of law, even unfairly and a celebrity.

This rollercoaster journey in the last two days shows how we are conditioned to expect the rich and the famous to have undue privileges, law be damned. And we have strangely made peace with it too.

We took this Salman Khan episode as proof to convince us that we were wrong in being cyni-cal. It was meant to remind us that the country has the same law for all its citizens. And it did. But we didn't realise picture abhi baaki hai. The postscript reminded us that how the law works for you depends on how deep your pockets are.


Salman Khans defenders are as silly as Sanjay Dutts

Vivek Kaul May 6, 2015

T he actor Salman 'Bhai' Khan has been pronounced guilty by a Mumbai court in the 2002 hit and run case.The court said that Khan was driving without a license and was under the influence of alco-hol. The actor was driving back home (he lives in Galaxy Apartment at Bandstand in Bandra, Mumbai) late night on 28 September 2002, when he lost control of the SUV, drove on to a pavement outside a bakery in Bandra and killed one person and injured four others, in the proc-ess.

He has been sentenced to a prison term of five years.

Multiple theories have been offered in support of the actor by his lawyers, fans and others who have followed this hit and run case closely.

Khan's lawyers submitted the balance sheet of his charity Being Human in court and argued that the star had sponsored the heart surgeries of 600 children.

Charity is always good. But that doesn't cancel out the fact that Khan was drunk while driving an SUV and killed one person and injured four others as a result. And given that the law of the

land should take its course, charity cannot be a reason to pardon wrongdoing.

If that were to be the case, alcoholic drivers would regularly run their SUVs on to pave-ments, kill and injure people, and then start doing charity.

His lawyers also submitted a certificate in court which said that the actor suffered from arteriovenus malformation in the setting of right trigeminal neuralgia. Wikipedia defines trigeminal neuralgia as neuropathic isorder characterized by episodes of intense pain in the face, originating from the trigeminal nerve. Khan's lawyers pleaded for a light sentence on this basis.

The question of course, is if the actor has this disease why is he doing two films at the same time? (Bajrangi Bhaijaan, opposite Kareena Kapoor, and Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo opposite Sonam Kapoor). He is also scheduled to star in four other movies including Dabangg 3 and En-try Mein No Entry. If the actor has this disease and is not in best shape how come he has com-mitted to so many movies? Maybe his lawyers can answer that.

Outside the court, it has been argued that there is Rs 200 crore riding on the actor.

The thing here however, is that this accident did not happen yesterday. It happened in Septem-ber 2002.

Every producer who has signed Khan since then has known that there was a risk that he might be arrested. The possibility that Khan might have to go to jail was a business risk that they were taking. Unfortunately that risk has come to be true.

The film industry, as expected, has come out in


support of Khan. The actress Sonakshi Sinha tweeted that Khan was a good man and no one can take that away from him.

He may be a good man but what about the indi-vidual who was killed due to Khan's rash driv-ing? And what about the four others who were injured? Weren't they good people as well?

All the support that seems to be coming out for Salman Khan is very similar to the support that came out in favour of Sanjay Dutt when he was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case.

When Dutt was convicted, similar specious ar-guments were made in his favour.

One argument which gained a fair amount of popularity was that he is a good man and hence should not go to jail. Justice Markandaya Katju argued that Dutt has through his film had re-vived the memory of Mahatma Gandhi and the message of Gandhiji, the father of the nation.

The movies Katju was talking about were Mun-nabhai MBBS and Lageraho Munnabhai. Dutt did not make these movies, he just acted in them. The movies were the vision of director Rajkumar Hirani, who also co-wrote them.

In fact, Dutt was not even supposed to play the role of Munnabhai in Munnabhai MBBS. The original choice for the role was Shah Rukh Khan, who later declined due to a back injury.

So Sanjay Dutt was simply lucky to have first landed and then played the role that made Gan-dhi fashionable again. And that was no reason to let him off the hook.

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, argued that Sanjay Dutt should be let off because his father Sunill Dutt was a good man.

Today, I fondly remember Sunil Dutt ji. He used to come to my residence whenever he was in Calcutta. If he were alive, he would have no doubt made all efforts to see that Sanjay does not suffer any more. My heart echoes the same sentiments , she wrote on Facebook.

This was another specious argument.

If sons were to be released because their fathers were good individuals, who would ever get convicted? Let's take the case of the late Head Constable Ibrahim Kaskar of Mumbai police.

As S Hussain Zaidi writes in Dongri to Dubai Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia , that In the predominantly Muslim stronghold of Dongri, Ibrahims baithak was the first place people went to if they had a problem. It was privy to everything-from people discussing their choking lavatory drain to the excitement of the elope-ment of lovers or cases of police harassment. Kaskars son is Dawood Ibrahim.

The point being that it is easy to offer specious arguments in favour of individuals convicted by courts. At the end of the day what matters is the law of the land. If that is being correctly implemented(even though many years late) everything else is a non-issue.

(Vivek Kaul is the author of the Easy Money tril-ogy. He tweets @kaul_vivek)


Friends of Salman Khan, do us a favour and stop tweeting

Rajyasree Sen May 8, 2015

Y esterday was a study in why some people should never have been taught to read, write or communicate with others. And no, I dont think Im being too harsh.Superstar (he cannot be described as an ordinary Bollywood actor) Salman Khan was sentenced to five years in prison for running over five pavement dwellers, 12 years ago. Four of them were injured leading to loss of limb in one; another died. In the years between the original incident and Khans conviction, Khan roamed around freely, earning multiple crores through his films and promotions, doing charitable work and campaigning for politicians like Sri Lankas Mahinda Ra-japaksa.

As far as the case was concerned, there were denials by Khan, a chauffeur who obligingly popped up out of nowhere and claimed to have been at the wheel on that fateful night, and other obfusca-tions. When the verdict was announced yesterday, Khan reportedly stayed calm in court. The same cannot be said for his colleagues from Bollywood or friends in Mumbai. They went into a veritable overdrive of verbal diarrhoea and an overt display of how disconnected they were from reality and propriety.

If you were on Twitter yesterday, the onslaught of tweets from celebrities following the verdict was difficult to survive. I understand everyone loves Salman Khan; mainly hes Bill Gates-meets-Kid Rock-meets-Johny Depp. He seems to be some sort of benefactor, do-gooder and party boy, all rolled into one. Unfortunately, he also appears to have a dash of Chris Brown and Puru Raj Kumar in him. Still, one can understand why his colleagues would want to voice their love and support for him. After all, thanks to him, many have careers in Bollywood and money to spend.

But must they voice their love for him at the risk of sounding like bimbos stuck in ivory towers?

This is a collection of just a few of the gems we were subjected to yesterday. Leading the light-on-morality brigade was of course jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali, who seems to have an IQ of 2, at best. According to her


No one has obviously told Farah Khan Ali that people sleep on the road because they have nowhere else to sleep. Also, they were sleeping on an elevated pavement, not expecting a drunken superstar to drive on to the pavement and over them. However, thats too much logic for Khan Ali, it seems.The singer Abhijeet followed this up with


(Shes deleted the tweet, but its seared into some of our memories.)

Parineeti Chopra displayed that all the education in the world cant stop you from casting asper-sions on what should effect a judges verdict inner beauty or a murder committed.

Bipasha Basu decided not to exert herself and instead quoted a doyen of propriety and stellar judg-ment, the Bombay Times editor Priya Gupta. Im just happy we were spared a picture of Deepika Padukones cleavage, thrown in for entertainment value.


And if you think Im picking on Chopra and other actors who seem to be hell-bent on proving they shouldnt open their mouths unless theyve been given a written script, even if they have only 140 characters with which to display their ignorance politicians werent far behind.Member of Parliament, Milind Deora had this to say:

Since Khan had touched the lives of the pavement dwellers quite deeply, Im hazarding a guess that the verdict and sentence werent a major setback for them.

Its bad enough when you tweet something insensitive. Its worse when you try and explain it, as both Farah Khan Ali and Abhijeet tried to, making the case for themselves and their fraternity even worse.

Khan Alis garbled arguments on NDTV and Headlines Today amounted to her criticising the gov-ernment who should provide housing for everyone. After all, we pay taxes, so why should we see people sleeping on the streets? Of course people will keep getting drunk and driving on pavements, so these accidents will keep happening if the government doesnt ensure housing for everyone.


Now do you get why I think her broadband and 3G access should be taken away from her?

Abhijeet went one step better while explaining his low IQ and stupid tweets. On Headlines Today, he said and I quote Why should any human die like a dog? Twitter there is a limitation. Sal-man or anyone, they ever kill a person who sleep on the road. If suicide is a crime, then sleeping on the road should also be a crime. There should be a law against it. Abhijeets only saving grace is that his grammar is so bad, its difficult to tell precisely what he means by they ever kill a person who sleep on the road.

Even if you set Dumb and Dumber aside, consider what Khans other colleagues are saying. Dia Mirza said Khan saved her mother. Others pointed out what a kind and wonderful person he is and that hes saved many other lives. Ergo, the verdict is unfair.

Journalist Bachi Karkaria said it best on NDTV when she said that just because hes paid for the medical treatment of however many people at last count, it seemed Khan has treated more chil-dren than Doctors Across Borders has it doesnt absolve you of or give you the right to murder one person. Thats not how life works. Or the justice system, thankfully.

Even I had tweeted that Puru Raj Kumar and Sanjeev Nanda got away with just a couple of years in jail for running over and murdering many more people. And that I do feel that a necessary example is being made of celebrities and that no one is above the law. Today, with the spread of social me-dia and the public pressure you can exert through it, it is very difficult I would say almost impos-sible for public figures to get away with committing any crime or misdemeanour.

Also, thanks to social media especially Twitter celebrities are no longer able to stay secure and away from the commoners. Because some of them lack a filter, we are now privy to their drawing room utterances at which we could previously only guess. The fact is that if youre a public figure, you cant just shoot off 140 characters of rubbish and think you wont be taken to task for it. If you think otherwise, it shows a complete absence of understanding of the medium and its users.

What Twitter and our celebrities propensity for shooting their mouths off has done is prove to us that sometimes people are just pretty botoxed faces. And that the popular opinion that celebrities feel that they can get away with anything whether it be beating up fellow diners at Wasabi, or sexually assaulting their colleagues maid is correct. That they might actually have to do the time for their crime seems like a bitter pill to swallow.

It would be advisable that their PR teams teach them how to exercise as much social media dexter-ity on their personal tweets as they do to promote their films. Its bad enough that we have to deal with celebrities halal-ing black bucks, walloping others and running over people in real life; at least spare us the onslaught of idiocy in the virtual world.


Salman Khans punishment is

richly deservedSandipan Sharma May 6, 2015

S alman Khan found an innocent man to take his blame, turned a portly politician from Rajasthan into a Bollywood star and her daughter into a playback singer. Be-tween court appearances, he gave valuable tips to the son of a chief minister on how to grow hair on his bald head. Like a common baraati, Bhai wiggled his pelvis on the streets of Jaipur to appease politicians; and, like a VIP criminal, spent money like water in the courts of Jodhpur and Mumbai to hire lawyers and influence wit-nesses.

For 15 years Salman tried every possible trickin true tarikh-pe-tarikh traditionto escape punishment. He changed lawyers, deceived courts, courted the media, airbrushed his im-agefrom the bad boy of Bollywood he tried Being Human. Yet, he is going to jail, getting the deserved punishment for his karma.

This sounds like a clich, but Salmans convic-tion is the perfect opportunity to reiterate this: Indian Kanoon isnt Andha and it indeed has long hands. Chulbul Robinhood Pandey can retire in peace now. The Indian criminal justice system is in safe hands; it doesnt require the services of Dabangg cops to dispense punish-ment.

There are two ways to look at Salmans convic-tion. It can be argued that he managed to stay out of jail for several years because of his clout and money. Salman has been on trial in five casesfour related to poaching spotted deer and black bucks in Jodhpur and one for mow-ing down people on the streets of Mumbai. Yet, in spite of two convictions before Wednesdays judgment, Salman spent just a few hours in jail.

Last time he was incarcerated, Salman Khan found it difficult to sleep in a 10X10 barrack of Jodhpurs Central Jail. It is unlikely that he will find it any easier in Mumbais equally uncomfortable Arthur Road jail, at least on the first night. While he tosses and turns in his cell tonight, Salman could ask himself a simple question: What did he gain from evading pun-ishment for so long through tricks and legal treachery?

For almost two decades, Salmans life was a suspended sentence; a long countdown to the feared dnouement. This tortuous wait would have been worthwhile for him, had he in the end been acquitted by the Mumbai court. In addi-tion, the egoistic, superstar endured the dis-comfort of cozying up to politicians who could have influenced his cases, especially in Rajas-than. (One of them, coincidentally, managed to bag a few roles in films as his mother and got her daughter to sing a few songs in his home productions.) Now that he has been sentenced to five years in jail, Salman will be wondering if the delay only prolonged his agony.

All of it is well deserved. A few days ago, when Salmans driver appeared in the court and claimed that he was responsible for the Mumbai accident, nobody missed the joke. Soon, a black buck will write an application to the Jodhpur Court saying it was not killed by Salman but had committed suicide, went the joke on Twitter,


sarcastically pointing at Salmans efforts to deny an irrefutable truth. For the deplorable effort of pinning the blame on an innocent driver alone (albeit with his consent), Salman deserves every bit of the pain he has endured and the punish-ment he will serve.

The Bhai's troubles, however, are far from over. Salman is the main accused in three cases of poaching protected animals in Jodhpur, in another related case he is accused of using fire-arms without a valid licence. The lower courts have already found him guilty in two cases of poaching. In the first he was sentenced to a year in jail, primarily because it was his first offence.

In the second he was sentenced to five years in jail by virtue of being a repeat offender. His ap-peal against these verdicts is pending.

In the two remaining cases, the verdict could be announced any time and, if found guilty, the punishment could be extremely severe.

The worst-case scenario for Salman could be this: he spent the last 15 years trying to avoid punishment. He could be spending the next decade serving sentences for his crimes.

That would make for an agonising Silver Jubilee for the superstar.


How bhai betrayed his die-hard fans with hit-and-run case

Rucha Joshi, May 7, 2015

W hen Maine Pyar Kiya came out, I watched it three times and the repeat viewings was basically for the shots of Salman Khan's shirtl

Documents

FirstpostEbook_Salmanverdict