Headlines
HC declines to suspend hearing of Salman's appeal
Mumbai, July 20
The Bombay High Court on Monday rejected a murder convict's appeal to
put on hold the hearing on Bollywood actor Salman Khan's plea against
the five-year jail term he has been sentenced to in the 2002 accident
case.
The intervention appeal, filed by a murder convict, whose
plea has not been heard since 2009, contended that matters concerning
celebrities were heard out-of-turn, while other convicts like him were
kept pending for long and continued to languish in prisons.
He
has also filed a separation petition in the Bombay High Court making
similar allegations and prayed that his own appeal must be heard
expeditiously.
Justice A.R. Joshi, however, declined to accept
the appeal as both the sides in the actor's case have agreed for an
expeditious hearing in the matter.
Besides, in the intervenor's petition, the high court has not passed any judicial orders.
Seeking
suspension of Salman's appeal, the intervenor's counsel Aparna Vatkar
said it should not be heard until the separate petition filed by her
client before another bench is decided by the high court.
Salman's
lawyer Amit Desai, meanwhile, demanded a CD of the trial court
proceedings to enable them argue the appeal in the high court more
effectively.
Public prosecutor Sandeep Shinde and Pradeep Gharat
said this could not be done as no such CD of the trial court proceedings
is available.
The matter will now come up for further hearing on July 27.
Salman,
49, was convicted by the sessions court on May 6 on various charges,
including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and sentenced to
five years in jail.
He moved the Bombay High Court challenging the conviction and is at present on bail.
One
pavement dweller was killed and four others were injured when Salman's
Toyota Land Cruiser SUV ran over them as they were sleeping outside a
bakery in suburban Bandra early September 28, 2002.