Salman Khan, one of India’s biggest movie stars, was sentenced to five years in jail on Wednesday as punishment for a 2002 hit-and-run case.
Khan was charged with driving a vehicle over five men sleeping on a sidewalk, killing one. Judge D.W. Deshpande of the Mumbai Sessions court found the Bollywood start guilty earlier today of culpable homicide, the Associated Press reported.
The 49-year-old actor also received separate terms for negligent driving and causing grievous harm to the victims. All the sentences will run concurrently, Khan’s defense lawyers told the AP.
His attorneys filed an appeal for bail with the Mumbai High Court, granting Khan two days of temporary bail until his formal bail plea on Friday.
The prosecution insisted that Khan was drunk when he rammed his SUV into the group of homeless people almost 13 years ago. Khan, however, denies even being behind the wheel. His driver Ashok Singh told the court that he was driving and lost control of the vehicle when one of its tires burst. Still, the judge dismissed the claims.
TV news channels reported Khan looking “downcast” during the court proceedings and said he teared up when the judge pronounced the verdict.
While the Associated Press of India points out that many Indian prisons are overcrowded and have poor sanitation and health care, a high-profile prisoner such as Khan is unlikely to be kept with hardened criminals. He’d most likely end up with white-collar prisoners.
Khan also faces trial in a separate case for allegedly killing two rare deer in a western India wildlife preserve 16 years ago.
One of Bollywood’s most prolific stars, Khan has appeared in upwards of 90 Hindi-language films over his 27-year career. He began acting in 1988, playing a romantic action hero; many of his movies have since become box office hits.
Bollywood filmmakers were worried about the court case because Khan has several films in the pipeline, the media report pointed out. Film industry analysts told the wire service that Khan had projects worth 2.5 billion rupees ($40 million) depending on him.
This may not be the end of Khan’s case. It could take years to wind its way through India’s “overburdened” legal system, which is “plagued by a shortfall of judges, corruption, police delays and excruciating layers of paperwork,” local AP reporters wrote.