Salman Khan found guilty in 2002 drunk driving case, charged with culpable homicide

Judge D W Deshpande of the sessions court here in Mumbai, has pronounced Salman Khan guilty of the 2002 hit and run case. This judgement finally brings an end to the 13 year old case.

This is the Toyota Land Cruiser which Salman Khan was driving that night, which killed 1 and injured 4.

The incident took place a little after 2 AM on 28th September 2002. Driving his Toyota Land Cruiser, the actor rams into a bakery, near his home in Bandra West. In doing so, he had also run over five men who were sleeping on the footpath. One of them, 38-year-old Noor Ullah Khan gets killed instantly, while the other four are injured, three of them seriously. What follows, is nothing short of a mockery of Indian judicial system.

Soon after the incident, on 21st October 2002 Khan was charged under IPC Section 304 II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). But, he contested the decision and was out on bail on 24th October 2002. Ever since, the actor has been pretty much been busy with his Bollywood life.

Over the years, Salman Khan has been part of quite a few automobile launches. He is a brand ambassador of Suzuki Motorcycles in India. He was also given a brand new Audi Q7 and RS7 by Audi India.

Though the judge is yet to reveal the quantum of punishment for the crime Salman Khan committed 13 years ago, he is charged with culpable homicide (not amounting to murder), and faces upto 10 years in jail. This will be a huge setback to the bollywood star, who is part of 2 major films currently under production. These two movies itself has riding about Rs 200 crores on Salman Khan.

Legal experts believe that Salman will once again contest the court’s decision. What this means is, the actor can be out on bail once again, and the case will continue to go on for many more years.

Update 1 – The quantum of punishment will be announced at 13:10 hours today.

Update 2 – The judge has sentenced Salman Khan to 5 years in jail. If Salman wants to contest the decision, he will have to appeal the decision in High Court, as the term is more than 3 years. The High Court can grant him bail until they decide on a judgement.

#Hit_and_run : #Salman ' s Sentence pic.twitter.com/hoAmw1ZIFh

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) May 6, 2015