SC rebukes HC on Salman: The law is same for all

The Supreme Court on Friday took strong exception to Rajasthan high court suspending actor Salman Khan’s conviction in the blackbuck hunting case and said the law is same for all the convicts.

The Supreme Court on Friday took strong exception to Rajasthan high court suspending actor Salman Khan’s conviction in the blackbuck hunting case and said the law is same for all the convicts.

“Just because you are an actor or have to go to UK for a shooting doesn’t mean conviction can be stayed. There should be no discrimination vis-à-vis all convicts,” a bench headed by justice SJ Mukopadhyaya told Salman’s lawyer who said the actor sought suspension as UK wasn’t granting him visa.

Under the criminal law, a convict punished with a jail term of three years can get the sentence suspended on filing an appeal against the conviction order. This saves him from going to jail until his appeal is pending.

However, suspension of conviction is a rarity. It removes the taint altogether while the appeal is pending. The last case in which conviction was suspended was of BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu.

In Salman’s case suspension of conviction would not require him to mention about the case when applying for a visa or any other document.