Nationalist Congress Party leader and lawyer Majeed Memon on Friday said that a bail order in expected to be passed in favour of Bollywood actor Salman Khan in connection with his role in the 2002 hit-and-run case.
Salman has been sentenced to five years imprisonment for the same.
"In my experience, if a person has been out for as long as 13 years and has not committed any lapse or default, bail should follow. Secondly, the punishment is not so serious so as to entail death sentence or imprisonment for life. This is an accident case which turned into culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Thirdly, the sentence is five years and the appeal will take some time, and till
then, there is no need to keep the appellant in custody. Fourthly, the fundamental factors which govern our bail jurisprudence are that bail is a matter of rule, even post conviction," Memon told ANI.
"If a person is likely to abscond, then he may not be granted bail, but in Salman's case, he has deep roots in society and has high stakes in Bollywood. So, there is not the remotest of apprehensions of Salman absconding. Salman is also not likely to tamper evidence because the evidence is already in the possession of the Sessions Court and will be brought to the High Court for reconsideration. So, there are no grounds which would come in the way of the granting of bail. Purely, dispassionately, the order for bail is expected to be passed," he added.
On Wednesday, a Mumbai Sessions Court found Salman guilty of culpable homicide and sentenced him to five years imprisonment in connection with the 2002 hit-and-run case, where he ran over a homeless person and injured four others.
However, the Bombay High Court granted him a two-day interim bail for the same. Salman's lawyers are currently pleading for the actor's bail in court.