New Delhi, India (BBN)-Bringing to an end the 12-year-old trial against actor Salman Khan, Judge D W Deshpande on Wednesday sentenced the actor to five years in jail.
The judge told Salman that he was intoxicated when he was driving and all charges against him have been proven.
The court will now order him to be taken into custody and sent to the nearby jail ( in this case the Arthur Road jail) until the Maharashtra Prisons authorities decide on which jail Khan should be lodged in, reports The Indian Express.
The actor’s defence had earlier sought for a lenient sentence citing a stress condition that Salman is suffering from. The defence argued that jail time would aggravate his condition and stop him from doing community service through the Being Human organisation.
As the sentence is for more than three years, Salman would have to approach the Bombay High Court for bail.
However, the biggest hurdle is that the High Court goes on vacation next week. So the defense has an herculean task to file the application and get it on board for hearing. Khan can apply to the Holiday bench but its upon the bench to take it up or not.
Khan is accused of running over five persons sleeping on a platform outside a bakery in Bandra, in his white Land Cruiser, early September 28, 2002, killing one of them. Khan, according to the prosecution, was driving the car in an inebriated condition. The 49-year-old actor now stands guilty of culpable homicide.
