MUMBAI: Bollywood superstar Salman Khan was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison for killing a homeless man with his SUV in a 2002 hit-and-run after a night out drinking at an up market bar.
Judge D.W. Deshpande found Khan guilty of culpable homicide and other charges for driving his Land Cruiser into a group of homeless men sleeping rough in suburban Mumbai, rejecting the actor’s claim his driver was to blame.
“After going through the arguments put forth by both sides, I have come to the conclusion that five years is proper punishment,” Deshpande told the packed sessions court in Mumbai.
The 49-year-old looked stunned and tired as the sentence was read out, sinking into his chair as his family gathered around, according to an AFP reporter in the court.
But the actor was later granted bail ahead of an appeal in India’s notoriously slow legal system. It was unclear how hard the conviction would hit the career of one of the Indian movie industry’s biggest box-office stars.
The outcome of the case had been keenly awaited both by his legion of fans and by Bollywood studios, who stand to lose millions of dollars if they have to cancel filming for movies for which he has been signed up.
The sentence sparked a storm on social media, with Bollywood celebrities taking to Twitter in support of Khan, while at least one blamed the homeless for being there in the first place.
“Roads are meant for cars and dogs not for people sleeping on them,” playback singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya tweeted.