HC rejects pleas against Salman

Actor's late bodyguard's mother had filed them

 The Bombay High Court on Tuesday dismissed a set of two pleas filed by Sushilabai Patil, the mother of late Ravindra Patil, the former police bodyguard of Salman Khan, whose testimony has been a major factor in leading to the conviction of the Bollywood actor in the actor’s 13-year-old drunken-driving and hit-and-run case.

Sushilabai Patil, through lawyer Manohar Sharma, has sought cancellation of bail to the actor and pleaded for enhancement of the five-year jail term awarded by the Mumbai Sessions Court.

“There were similar pleas earlier and these were rejected,” said Justice A R Joshi, who was presiding over the appeal of the actor challenging his conviction.

On May 6, the actor was convicted by the Mumbai Sessions Court of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and sentenced to five years of imprisonment in the case but escaped being sent to jail after the Bombay High Court granted him interim bail till May 8. On May 8, the high court suspended the 5-year sentence of Khan in the case and granted him bail pending his appeal against conviction.

Sushilabai Patil said that Khan was convicted earlier by a Rajasthan court in black-buck killing case and this was not communicated to the Mumbai magistrate who granted him bail in the 2002 hit-and-run case after adding the charge of “culpable homicide not amounting to murder” under IPC. “Hence, his bail should be cancelled because a convict cannot get liberty in any other case,” Sharma argued.

On the basis of a complaint of Patil, the police constable was assigned as bodyguard of the actor, a complaint was taken and FIR was lodged subsequently resulting in the arrest of Khan.