Salman’s fans sneak past police, throng courtroom
Dressed in formals, gray shirt and black trousers, Bollywood actor Salman Khan showed up at the sessions court premises at Kalaghoda on Wednesday morning much before the court timings, accompanied by his sisters and a team of lawyers. Charul Shah reports.
Dressed in formals, gray shirt and black trousers, Bollywood actor Salman Khan showed up at the sessions court premises at Kalaghoda on Wednesday morning much before the court timings, accompanied by his sisters and a team of lawyers.
The corridor outside the court room was heavily fortified with police guards, making it difficult for onlookers to get a glimpse of the actor, though many still managed to enter the courtroom.
Anticipating the rush for the film star's appearance, and fearing that someone might misuse technology to record the proceedings, the judge had ordered to paste an old circular dated February 4, 1990, outside the courtroom prohibiting everyone from carrying inside mobile phones, pagers, recorders etc.
Inside the courtroom, Salman sat in the dock meant for the accused and was also found dosing off during the proceedings. When the court decided to frame charges against him, the actor was asked to come near the court dais. It was then the court also ordered to close the door of the courtroom to avoid distractions and disturbances from the onlookers.
Judge UB Hejib granted exemption to the actor from personal appearance on account of his transfer as the case would now be assigned to a new judge, which can take some more time. Khan might need to move the new judge again for exemption from personal appearance in the case during the trial.
During the proceedings, only people concerned with cases listed in the court were allowed to enter the courtroom. However, many had managed to enter just to get glimpse of the actor.
Salman’s lawyer Shrikant Shivde prayed for an order directing the media to restrict the coverage only to the case. The court, however, refused to pass a formal order and observed that the media should observe self-restraint in coverage and report the proceedings correctly.
A person was killed and four sleeping on a pavement in Bandra were injured when Salman's Toyota Land Cruiser allegedly rammed into a bakery on the night of September 28, 2002.