Actor Salman Khan, sentenced to five years for killing a homeless man in a hit-and-run in 2002, will not go to jail for now. He is back home till Friday, when the Bombay High Court will hear his appeal for bail.
Here are the latest developments in the story:
The Mumbai sessions court this morning rejected Mr Khan's claims that it was his driver who was at the wheel of his Toyota Land Cruiser when it ran into a group of homeless men sleeping outside a Mumbai bakery. One man, Nurullah Mehboob Sharif, died, four were injured. (Track LIVE updates)
Judge DW Deshpande told the actor, "You were driving the car, without a licence and you were under the influence of alcohol."
Mr Khan broke down in court after hearing he was sentenced to five years in jail. The court said all seven charges against him - including culpable homicide - had been proven. The maximum sentence he could have got was 10 years.
Mr Khan, 49, then applied for bail to the Bombay High Court, which has said he will not be arrested till Friday, when it hears his case. He left the sessions court for home after 7 on Wednesday evening.
On September 28, 2002, Mr Khan had spent the night at an upmarket bar before his SUV mounted a pavement in front of a bakery in the suburb of Bandra West.
When the superstar finally took the stand last month, he said he had sipped only water at the bar, a claim rejected by the judge today. His lawyers said he had climbed out of the driver's seat after the accident because the passenger side door had been damaged.
Mr Khan's trial began in earnest last year after a series of court hearings and lengthy legal hold-ups. Last month, his driver, Ashok Singh, testified that he had been behind the wheel, and that the crash occurred after the front left tyre burst, making steering and braking difficult.
A constable attached to Mr Khan's security detail said in his statement to police that the actor lost control of the car while driving at about 55 miles per hour. One of the sleeping labourers injured in the accident said in his statement that "Salman was so drunk he fell".
Mr Khan is currently filming two movies worth up to 200 crores, according to some trade analysts.
He is under trial in Rajasthan for shooting an endangered black buck gazelle in 1998. He spent a week in jail in 2006 in Jodhpur before being granted bail. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 7 years.
