Bollywood actor Salman Khan was on Wednesday sentenced to five years in jail for a 2002 hit-and-run accident that left one man dead and four others injured here.
Additional Sessions Judge D.W. Deshpande announced the verdict at a packed courtroom here, stunning the actor and his family.
Salman, one of the highest paid actors in Bollywood, was sentenced for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The judge held Salman guilty of rash and negligent driving when he was at the wheels of the Land Cruiser that killed the poor victim in suburban Bandra in September 2002.
Defence lawyer Abha Singh said justice had finally been done.
"I am very happy," she told the media. "Justice has been done. The law has been upheld."
She said the long delay had given the impression that the rich could get away with murder in India, and that the moneyed were above the law.
Earlier on Wednesday, the actor was found guilty on most of the charges levelled against him in the incident.
His lawyers had pleaded for a lighter sentence, citing the actor's social work as well as heart and other medical issues.
Salman is likely to be taken into police custody and sent to the Arthur Road Central Jail in south Mumbai.
Actress Parineeti Chopra is over the moon about having finally bought a "sea-view" apartment for herself in Bandra area here. She says it was her dream to have a house in the city.
Leaving behind the likes of Kangana Ranaut's “Queen” and Aamir Khan-starrer “PK”, Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor's romantic comedy “2 States” is leading the nominations for the 16th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in categories like Best Picture, Best Director and Best Story.
She portrayed a young, rich girl in her debut film "Student of The Year" and then a vibrant and free-spirited girl in "2 States" and "Highway". However, the 22-year-old Alia Bhatt says "Udta Punjab" is a "risk" she has taken in her career.
Filmmaker Farah Khan, whose films are marked by dollops of dance, songs and melodrama, says she may make an experimental film like Kalki Koechlin- starrer "Margarita With A Straw" if she finds a "good script".
