SC agrees to hear plea challenging Salman’s bail

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a plea to transfer Salman Khan’s appeal in the Bombay high court against the trial court’s verdict in the 2002 hitand-run case to Delhi.

The actor was given five-year jail term by the trial court, but his sentence was suspended when he filed an appeal challenging it.

Advocate ML Sharma — counsel for the mother of the Mumbai police officer, Ravindra Patil, who was seated in the front row of Khan’s car at the time of the accident — told a bench headed by justice TS Thakur that the petition was urgent as the manner in which the actor was given bail did not inspire confidence in her.

Sharma also requested the court to also cancel Khan’s bail. The case is likely to come up for hearing on July 27.

The petitioner, Patil’s mother, referred to the HC order granting bail to Khan and claimed the court suspended his sentence without perusing all the exhibits before it.

Patil, who died in 2007 after a bout of tuberculosis, had allegedly received underworld threats after the incident. He was the complainant in the case and an eye-witness to the accident. His mother’s petition alleged Patil was under tremendous pressure to change his statement in favour of the actor. She added that when he refused to do so, he was put in jail on the frivolous charge of failing to appear before the court on five consecutive dates.