Salman Khan Jail Term: The Dawn Of The 13 Years Long (Poetic) Justice

Now that Bollywood actor Salman Khan (ardently known as Bhai) has been sentenced to five years jail terms by Mumbai session court, a question about the justice system of world’s largest democratic nation has been the lingering thought in my mind since the news about the jail term of the actor erupted into glaring spotlight on journalism world and all over social media platforms. 

The question is – how come the Indian judiciary took so many years of its eventual deliverance of the verdict to punish the man whose image is literally idolized by people of all the religion? 

A style icon, insignia of fearless audacity, heartthrob of millions, considerate philanthropist, and the most eligible bachelor of Indian Bollywood – that’s Salman Khan in essence, fondly called Sallu. The man who debuted his cinematic career with  Biwi Ho To Aisi as a supporting role actor - oblivious to the world that the handsome hulk would be one of the most prominent actors of Bollywood. The super-duper hit, Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) was the phenomenal milestone achieved by the actor, and thence no stepping-back followed and the actor transitioned into one of the finest and admired actors of Bollywood, an individual whose hypnotic "Ek bar committment kar di to khud ki bhi nahi sunta" rhetoric, daredevilry and style are signature statements of his personality that gives guaranteed success of any dull movie.

However along with the success, this hotshot celebrity was controversialised in many cases, especially his alleged relationship with Aishwarya Rai (now the wife of Abhishek Bachchan, son of mega star, Amitabh Bachchan), black buck hunting and his statement on 26/11 attacks (in which he is alleged to have defended Pakistan’s involvement in the terrorist attack on two five star hotels of Mumbai, saying the incident got media attention just because the targeted ones were elite).

Salman was involved into drunk-driving of his Toyota Land Cruiser (at the breakneck speed of around 100 km/h), lost control on the vehicle and rammed it to American Express bakery at Hill Road, killing one on the spot and injuring other four. The deceased and the victims were asleep on the footpath when the uncontrolled vehicle crushed them over. This is just an account of the eyewitness and Salman’s own version of truth which he is said to have testified in the session court in 2002 under hit-and-run charge. He was sentenced five years of jail terms for culpable homicide then, but was bailed out. He was also asked to pay compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the deceased family.

Since then, the game of surrender-bailout continued and Salman gave some blockbuster hits meanwhile until he was found guilty of all the charges labelled against him and was sentenced for five years jail terms in May 6, 2015. Well, this is not the end of the story, as Salman has got interim relief for 2 days and the sentence is expected to be challenged in the High Court.

Though I feel sympathetic with Salman, I however, barely tend to share the prejudice of those who believe him innocent irrespective of the well-grounded and legally substantiated proof of his involvement in hit-and-run felony. Quite very frankly I see no virtue of following this blind-celebrity-adoration madcap just because the involved person happens to be a well-renowned Indian celebrity. I am neither in support with those alluding Salman’s mild-mannered philanthropy to “being human” background and represent it as a potent factor to abate the sentence against the culpability of the crime he’d (allegedly) committed. 

Wrong or right and whether he negligently or intentionally or even unwittingly allowed himself to be part of alleged culpable homicide, nobody can deny that in the eyes of laws everyone's life matters. The court is authorized to exercise its prerogative in sentencing culprit under the full weight of laws. From Sanjay Dutt to Salman, the court punished the culprits to balance the scale of law. However and quite surprisingly, the quantum of punishment they were sentenced to was not in correspondent with the culpability of crimes they’d committed. 

However, what remains in the bottomline – the justice prevails finally.

The viewpoint expressed here doesn’t portray wilful denunciation of Salman Khan for his alleged involvement in the hit-run case, but rather the personal standpoint of writer, which can be deemed ‘unaccounted for’ subject to the discretion of readers.