Salman Khan is big boss

Mumbai: It was a day of high drama in the courtroom number 43 of the Bombay high court as everyone awaited the arrival of superstar Salman Khan who was asked by Justice A.R. Joshi to be present in person to hear the verdict in response to his appeal against the conviction by the trial court in May in the 2002 hit-and-run case in which he was sentenced five years.

Though the judgment was to be read out at 11.30 am, the delay in Salman’s arrival delayed it till 1.35 pm when Salman entered the courtroom with his sister Alvira and bodyguard Shera in tow. Salman, looking tired, sported a beard and wore a checked grey shirt over faded jeans. No sooner had Salman entered the courtroom, every individual in the jam-packed room, which included common people and advocates strained to get a glimpse of the actor.

As Justice Joshi’s arrival was awaited, Salman maintained a blank look on his face and took in the atmosphere and also sized up the room. An advocate, in her bid to ensure that the court norms were not flouted by over enthusiastic fans of the actor trying to click his photographs asked the police to ensure that people present did not click pictures of Salman.
While the police complied and asked the people to put away their mobile phones, they could do little to restrain the people in black (advocates) from clicking pictures of Khan after he arrived.

Even as Justice Joshi left soon after acquitting Salman of all charges, the actor had to wait in the courtroom till the formalities of executing his bail bond was completed. All the while Salman maintained a blank look, the same was not the case with his sister Alvira who responded to queries by the media with a thumbs up sign. Salman, however, refused to comment.

The drama ended soon after Salman was asked by his counsel to go to the court office for completing the bail bond formalities. People, however, tried to chase him but thanks to some tough security measures in place by the police, Khan was able to exit without much ado.

When asked about the discriminative practice of making the common man put away their phones while the advocates snapped Khan a constable said, “We cannot stop the advocates as this is their own backyard. If there is a rule of not clicking photographs inside the courtroom, they (advocates) should be the first one to uphold it rather than breaking the rules.”

Meanwhile, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the government would decide on whether to appeal against the judgement after going through the court’s order. “We will examine the (High) court order and decide further course of action,” he said.

According to the Bombay High Court

1. The probe was conducted in a faulty manner with many loose ends
2. There are various shortcomings by the prosecution like not recording evidence of necessary and important witnesses
3. Omissions and contradictions in the evidence of injured witnesses
4. The entire evidence of the prosecution was circumstantial in nature
5. Prosecution should have examined Kamaal Khan, singer friend of Salman, who was with him in the car when the mishap occurred on September 28, 2002. Summons had been issued to Khan by the trial court but the matter was not followed up further.

THE TWISTS AND TURNS

• 2002 September 28: Salman’s white Toyata Land Cruiser crashes into the pavements near American Express Bakery at Hill Road at Bandra, killing one person and injuring four others. He is arrested and granted bail
• October: Police invoke section 302-II of IPC, which is culpable homicide not amounting to murder which attracts a punishment of jail term of 10 years.
• 2006 October: Magistrate court frame charges against Salman Khan
• 2007 May: Chemical analysis report suggests Salman Khan was drunk
• October: Police bodyguard Ravindra Patil, who filed the first FIR dies of TB
• 2013 December 23: Court slaps the charge of ‘culpable homicide’  not amounting to murder on the actor
• 2015 March: Salman Khan’s family driver Ashok Singh owns up responsibility of accident
• May 6: Mumbai sessions court sentences Salman Khan to five years RI

The Tweets