After six nights and seven days at the Jodhpur central jail, Salman Khan became a free man again on Friday evening.
Justice HR Panwar of the Rajasthan High Court granted him bail in the afternoon, admitting his revision petition and suspending the five-year sentence awarded by a lower
court for allegedly killing a chinkara in September 1998.
Around four hours later, after completing various official procedures, Salman was allowed to leave the jail.
Wearing a white shirt, jeans and cap, and carrying a shoulder bag, Salman stepped out of the jail, and was taken away in his lawyer’s car.
Hundreds of fans who had gathered outside the jail, and on the roofs of adjoining buildings to catch a glimpse of him, clapped and cheered as he emerged.
Salman made a brief stop at a five star hotel where his parents and sisters were camped, along with some close friends. Later all of them left for Mumbai by a chartered flight.
More fans thronged both the hotel and the airport.
“Our main plea before the court was that the account of the sole eyewitness who testified against Salman, one Harish Dulani, could not be treated as evidence, as he had not submitted himself to cross examination,” Uday Lalith, among the battery of lawyers who defended Salman, told Hindustan Times.
“Revision petition involves certain questions of law for determination, and therefore I consider it just and proper to suspend the substantive sentence awarded to the accused petitioner,” Justice Panwar ruled. Salman was released after furnishing a personal bond of Rs. 100,000 with the two sureties of Rs. 50, 000 each, his lawyer said. He cannot shift residence, or leave the country, without the court’s permission. He has to present himself again in court on October 24.
Salman Khan has already reached Mumbai.