The Bombay high court on Monday said it will hear the appeal filed by Bollywood actor Salman Khan against the five-year sentence awarded to him in the 2002 hit-and-run case from July 30 on a regular basis.
Salman's lawyer Amit Desai sought adjournment of hearing till August 3, but Justice A R Joshi did not consider his plea and decided to hear the 49-year-old actor's appeal from July 30.
In a related development, the judge also dismissed an intervention plea for granting a stay on the hearing on the ground that the applicant had no locus standi in the matter.
A murder convict, whose appeal has not been heard since 2009, had filed the intervention application. His contention was that the matters involving celebrities were being heard out-of-turn, whereas those of others were kept pending and such convicts have to languish in jail.
He has also filed a separate petition making the same allegation about appeals of celebrities being heard urgently. His lawyer Aparna Vatkar prayed that his appeal may be heard expeditiously.
Prosecutor S S Shinde, however, said he had no locus standi (right to be heard) in this matter. The applicant can pursue his other petition which is before another bench, said Shinde.
The court accepted the prosecutor's plea and rejected the application. The judge said that both the sides in Salman's case had agreed to expeditious hearing and, therefore, the applicant had no right to intervene.
The actor, who is on bail, did not come to the court on Monday. His sister, Alvira, was, however, present.
Salman was convicted by a sessions court on May 6 and sentenced to five years' imprisonment on various counts, including 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder'.
A man was killed and four others were injured when the actor's Toyota Land Cruiser ran over them while they were asleep on a pavement outside a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002.
The HC had on May 8 stayed the execution of the 5-year sentence awarded to Salman in the 13-year-old case and granted him bail while admitting his appeal.
Salman has challenged the findings of the trial court that he was drunk and was driving under the influence of liquor.
The actor 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.
In the appeal, Salman has argued that the trial court had failed to appreciate the fact that four prosecution witnesses, including the investigating officer, had said that there were four persons present in the Toyota Land Cruiser when the accident occurred and that it was the family driver Ashok Singh who was at the wheels.
Public prosecutor Shinde, though not opposing admission of the appeal, had earlier objected to suspension of the sentence and argued that Salman had knowledge of consequences of rash, negligent and drunken driving.
He had said, therefore, the trial court had rightly convicted him under the charge of 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder'.
Shinde had said the blood test of Salman revealed there was alcohol content above the permissible limit.
Apart from being convicted of 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder', Salman was also found guilty of offences under section 279 of IPC (rash and negligent driving) and sections 337 and 338 of IPC (causing hurt by acts endangering life or personal property of others), which prescribe six months' jail.
He was sentenced to undergo jail for six months under sections 181 (driving without licence) and 185 (drink driving) of Motor Vehicles Act.
Salman was also found guilty under the Bombay Prohibition Act's section 66 (a) and (b) for which he received two months' imprisonment and fine of Rs 500. All sentences run concurrently.
