JOIN USTreat Salman as ordinary citizen: Defence
Minutes after Salman Khan’s conviction by the Mumbai sessions court in a drunken-driving and hit-and-run case, his defence counsel Shrikant Shivade said that he should be treated as an “ordinary citizen” and not as a celebrity or actor.
“I must be treated as an ordinary citizen… I have faced trial as a ordinary citizen and I must be treated as an ordinary citizen when I am sentenced and not a celebrity or an actor,” Shivade told additional sessions judge D W Deshpande.
“You cannot have untouchability….since the convict is an actor, you punish more,” he said, adding: “We are governed by a Constitution and not rule of jungle.”
Shivade referred to three important case – the Aliaster Pereira hit-and-run case of Bandra in Mumbai, the Nooriya Haveliwali hit-and-run case of Mumbai and Delhi’s Nikhil Nanda-BMW hit-and-run case.
“In all these cases, the sentence is not 10 years…. sentence him less than three years,” Shivade said, and pointed out that the number of deaths in the other cases has been more than in the actor’s case.
He also pointed out that Khan has expressed the readiness to pay the compensation to the kin of the deceased and other victims – even before any court asked him to do so. “He has already said that he is ready to pay the compensation,” he said, adding: “We have deposited close to Rs 19 lakh without even challenging it.”
Shivade also pointed out that Salman Khan was involved in lot of charity and social work and Being Human, his NGO, has been working relentless since 2007.
“It works in the areas of cardiac care, human needs of unprivileged, pediatric care, special children, services to humanity and so on. If he is sentenced, all this work would be affected….please look into these aspects before the sentence,” the lawyer said.
Shivade also pointed out the health condition of Khan, who suffers from a neurological problem.