HC suspends Salman's sentence, actor let off on bail

Salman Khan will not have to go to jail pending disposal of his appeal against conviction in the 2002 hit-and-run case after the Bombay High Court suspended his sentence and granted him bail, in a huge relief to one of the reigning superstars of Bollywood. "This is not a case where I should keep him (Khan) in jail till his appeal is heard and decided. Why his right should suffer when his appeal is admitted and kept pending? "In many cases people have suffered and spent their entire prison term only to be acquitted later by the High Court," Justice Abhay Thipsay observed, before staying execution of the 5-year jail sentence awarded to Khan by the trial court on Wednesday and ordering that he be enlarged on bail. Justice Thipsay had granted interim bail to 49-year-old Khan hours after his conviction and sentencing by sessions court judge D W Deshpande on the ground that the actor had not been supplied with a detailed and reasoned order. The tenure of the 48-hour interim relief was to end today. A man was killed and four others were wounded when Khan's Toyota Land Cruiser ran over them while they were asleep on a pavement outside a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002.   PTI