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Sessions court grants bail to Salman Khan

The Mumbai sessions court on Thursday granted bail to actor Salman Khan in a hit-and-run case.

Judge P V Bavkar released Salman on a personal bond of Rs 20,000 with a surety of like amount.

He asked the actor to deposit his passport with the police and take permission from them before going abroad.

The judge also warned him against contacting witnesses, including those hurt n the mishap.

As soon as the order was given, family members and friends of Salman started clapping.

This was the actor's fifth bail application. A lower court and the sessions court had rejected the earlier ones.

The actor allegedly ran his Toyota Land Cruiser over some pavement dwellers in suburban Bandra on September 28. One person was killed and four injured.

He was booked under Section 304 (a), a bailable charge, of the Indian Penal Code and released the same day. Following pressure from various non-governmental organisations and the public, he was again booked on October 7 under Section 304 (II), a non-bailable charge.

Among those present in the courtroom were his father Salim, mother Salma, stepmother Helen, brother Arbaaz and friends Puneet Issar and Bunty Walia.

They left immediately to complete legal obligations and get Salman out of the Thane Jail.

"I am very happy with the decision. And that's all I can say right now," Arbaaz told rediff.com before leaving the court.

Earlier, Salman's lawyer Harshad Ponda said a Public Interest Litigation was filed in the Mumbai high court against his client. "The petition said that my client did not contact any of the injured or the family members of the deceased, and therefore I was ordered by the court to pay Rs 19 lakh in total to the injured and deceased of the family members," Ponda told the session court.

"So, indirectly, that Public Interest Litigation stated that I am not contacting nor bothering about compensation to the victims. So there was no tampering by my client even before the charge sheet was filed against him," Ponda said.

He said before the charge sheet was filed, the judge had mentioned that the investigations were on and the actor could tamper with evidence. "Now that the charge sheet has been filed, there is no way that my client can tamper the evidence."

When the judge asked prosecution lawyer R Kini if the actor had tried to tamper with evidence, he said, "No."

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