Salman Khan could be facing 10 years in prison after an Indian court has ruled that he should face the serious charge of culpable homicide. The Bollywood superstar reportedly drove his car into a bakery shop on 28 September 2002, which killed one street sleeper and injured four others. Salman denies having drove the car during the incident and will be challenging the court to prove his innocence. He was initially charged with culpable homicide, but was then given the lesser charge of ‘causing death by negligence,’ after a successful appeal was made.
However, in March 2011 the prosecution applied for Salman to be charged again with culpable homicide. It is only now that the Indian court has responded to this application. “There is enough evidence to show that the act was not incidental and hence the case should be tried under a more serious section,” says Magistrate Vasant Patel.
Depesh Mehta, who is Salman’s lawyer, has told the BBC that he will now have to appear in court on 11 March. Mr Mehta had this to say to a BBC correspondent in defence of the actor. “In our humble opinion there was no need to add this charge, there are no changes in the circumstances.” Adding, “When a man knows he is innocent and then he has to face this court order surely he will be hurt. But we have faith in our judiciary. And it is our belief that justice will be given to him.”
Salman, who is 47, was sentenced to five years in prison in 2006 for hunting and killing a blackbuck deer, but was released on bail after having spent less than a week in jail. His appeal is currently pending on this particular charge.
Salman is currently at a high-point in his career, with films like Dabangg (2010), Bodyguard (2011), Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Dabangg 2 (2012) transforming into huge hits at the box office. This has resulted in a radical upsurge in his popularity with the Bollywood audience.
We will keep an eye on this developing story so watch BollySpice for more.
