Salman Khan wasn’t driving; lawyer says as appeal hearing starts

The hearing of the appeal filed by Bollywood star Salman Khan against his five-year sentence in the 2002 hit-and-run case started in the Bombay High Court on Thursday as his lawyer argued that the trial court made a mistake in holding that the actor himself was driving the car.

Salman was convicted on May 6 by the sessions court for ramming his car into a shop in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one person and injuring four. He was sentenced to five years in jail for, among other charges, culpable homicide <g data-gr-id="18">not</g> amounting to murder.

Justice AR Joshi on Thursday also dismissed an intervention application filed by Sushilabai Patil, mother of Ravindra Patil, the police bodyguard of the actor who was <g data-gr-id="20">eye-witness</g> to the mishap. 

Ravindra Patil died during the trial in 2007. She had sought cancellation of Salman's bail, granted by the magistrate earlier and by the High Court after admitting his appeal. Salman 

had been convicted twice for <g data-gr-id="15">cognisable</g> offences in Jodhpur and he should not get bail, she had said.