Roads are meant for cars and dogs, not for sleeping people!

I have seen very few Bollywood films in my life. Unlike some Bengalis, I do not speak Hindi, nor do I pretend to understand it. Most Hindi films do not come with English captions. Therefore, I cannot follow the story. As we all know, the typical Bollywood films are filled with quirky characters, and those mindless movies are not my idea of spending a weekend evening with.
The poor quality movies' themes are very repetitive and the silly stories are the same - not to mention the impracticable and bizarre settings, with endless love music and ridiculous dances. Bollywood films are nothing but money making device for the wealthy producers in the film industry, who usually do not care about making quality cinema - as an art form.
Hence Bollywood's superstar Salman Khan was an enigma to me, until I read about his hit-and-run accident on the evening of September 28, 2002. After a night out drinking, while driving, an intoxicated Salman's Toyota Land Cruiser at 55 mph speed ran over a homeless man named Nurul Mahbub Sharif. He was sleeping on a pavement near a bakery, in Mumbai's suburb Bandra West.
The hit killed the man on the spot. Three others were gravely injured and the fifth person escaped with minor injuries.
Sharif was the only bread-winner in his family.
After being dragged through the court system for nearly thirteen years, the case finally went to trial recently.
In the course of the last couple of months, I kept track and wanted to see what kind of justice will be served to the powerful Bollywood icon.
On May 06, Salman Khan was found guilty of culpable homicide under the Motor Vehicles Act. Presiding Judge DW Deshpande sentenced him to five years imprisonment. He was also fined Rs. 25,000.
Was justice delivered in the Salman Khan case? It appears that Salman Khan's verdict came attached with a VIP sentencing. In countries such as India and South Africa, there is no minimum sentencing for culpable homicide. The judges use their own discretion while giving the final verdict.
Before passing judgment for the hit-and-run case, the Judge addressed the court and said, "Instead of reporting the accident to the police, Mr. Khan hid at home. It is pertinent to note that the accused did not take any positive steps by visiting hospital to see the injured and provide medical aid to them."
From the get go, Khan and his lawyers had denied that he was behind the wheel, and claimed that it was his driver Ashok Singh who was driving that night. Many witnesses from the night of the accident, including the injured, testified that Salman was indeed driving his car the night of the unfortunate accident.
Deshpande told Salman, "You were driving the car without a licence and you were under the influence of alcohol." Earlier, it was revealed that his blood alcohol level was much higher than the legal limit.
In the United States under federal sentencing guidelines, a crime committed with an automobile falls under involuntary manslaughter (equivalent to culpable homicide.) The minimum sentencing is 12-months to two years in jail.  
Salman's defence team argued against the likelihood of his going to prison. They reasoned that, "The actor has given generously to charity and was suffering from a neurological condition" and consequently, he should only be fined and not go to prison. According to his lawyers, Salman has raised Rs. 420 million (42 crore) for the health and education of India's underprivileged children.
The prosecution dismissed their plea and countered that "The fines are not enough, and the punishment had to be a deterrent to others."
Though Salman did not intend to kill, his reckless behaviour (operating a car while intoxicated) resulted in the death of a person. Even for involuntary manslaughter, punishment should definitely exceed five years in prison, and include generous compensation to the victims' families.
Similarly on October 21, 2014, Paralympian Oscar Pistorius of South Africa, a double amputee known as Blade Runner, also got five-years in prison for culpable homicide for killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steencamp.
In both cases it is commonly believed that the judges did dispense justice by sentencing two famous personalities five-years in jail. Had they ruled for a non-custodian sentence, that would have sent a wrong message to the community. Though the loss of lives cannot be reversed, people think justice was served.
"In Britain there is a tendency to lock away famous people just to make an example of them."
Since Salman Khan's verdict, many opinion pieces have been written, praising the Indian judicial system with catchy titles such as: "India's elite are not above the law anymore."  
But how unjust is it to get only five years in prison for killing a sleeping man? Where is actual justice for the dead man?
Celebrity figures and wealthy defendants like Salman can afford high-priced lawyers to get them off with a mere slap on the wrist. For a similar crime, a disadvantaged person cannot expect any mercy. In most societies, there is no fair and equitable justice for them.
Undoubtedly, because of Salman's celebrity status, he got a very light sentence.
Salman's huge fan base was fervently giving him their support; therefore, the Judge must have been under pressure to go easy on him. To me, it is not very clear how the ruling had made it clear that no one is above the law. How can the judicial system claim that law was upheld in a justifiable manner in the Salman case? Can it honourably assert that Salman really got no special treatment because he is "The Salman Khan?"
From then on it gets even better for Salman!
After getting a copy of the verdict, his lawyers appealed to the High Court for bail. The Mumbai High Court intervened on the same day because it knew that Salman could be arrested straight from the court and taken to jail. The High Court overturned the decision of the Sessions court, and released Salman on bail.  
Later in the day, Salman playing on the public sympathy that he has been wronged and looking like a hero, indeed put in his best ever performance for his waiting fans. With two hands put together in namasté gesture, Salman appeared on the balcony of his palatial home, and thanked his fans who were cheering him on in celebration.
Currently Salman is in Kashmir, finishing up shooting in the film Bajrangi Bhaijan.
After killing someone instead of being scorned, Salman is being treated like a royal. Throughout the actor's trial, his millions of admirers, the actor-politicians and the film industry came together in solidarity.
Bollywood's top stars including Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgan, Karina Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha came to visit Salman after he was released.  During his trial, actress-politician Hema Malini said her sympathy is with Salman, was feeling sad and praying for a very light sentence for him.
Even some of Salman's victims didn't want him to go to jail and instead demanded only compensation. One named Sheikh Mohammad said, "What will we get even if he's punished? We only want compensation." Another said he is okay with the verdict, but wants Salman to pay more than what he was given before.
A few hours after the verdict, the actor's fan and playback singer Abhijeet ignited outrage by tweeting, "Roads are meant for cars and dogs, not for people sleeping on them."
There were other tweets by other celebrity figures like jewellery designer Zayed Ali Khan's sister Farah Ali Khan about the harsh punishment, who ranted and blamed the government for not having enough housing for the poor people. In her view, "a good person like Salman should get a lesser sentence."
She contended that if someone decides to cross the rail track and gets killed as a result, do you punish the driver?  
Everyone is sorrowful for the Salman quandary - which is that he had to finally deal with his crime.
The outpouring of public support proves that his violent off-screen history has nothing to do with his ability to entertain his fans through his superb acting. All they care about is they are not deprived from watching more of his future films.
The general public also has very conveniently forgotten that Salman has been convicted once before in 1998, and spent more than a week in jail for killing endangered Indian gazelles.
It appears that all of the Salman groupies are upset at the outcome of the guilty verdict. They do not want him to spend time being incarcerated.
Bollywood badly needs Salman to make movies that would bring millions and billions of rupees in revenue.
What is so disturbing about the Salman episode is everyone is pretending that killing someone is no big deal just because he is a mega movie star. From the reports that I have read, his fans are doing oohhs and aahhs for Salman, and showing no sympathy for the sleeping dead man.
In Bollywood, the highest realm of the Indian entertainment business, the bottom line is - profit making. If Salman goes to jail for five years, Bollywood will have to cancel all the films Salman has been signed to and tends to lose millions of rupees. Reportedly, this year Salman Khan has several films in the pipeline. Movie industry analysts are estimating that 2.5 billion rupees worth of film production is riding on him. Producers are going to make a lot of money within India, but also by selling ancillary rights to show the films in the USA, UK, and the Middle East. The Indian diaspora in these parts of the world seldom miss the opportunity to attend a desi movie starring the great Salman Khan.
After the Salman verdict, a film industry tracker named Shailesh Kapoor of Omax Media told Reuters, "It's not just about the films at hand. It's about the films he will be making in the next five years. It will be a lost opportunity. Given how Bollywood is struggling these days, it will hit where it hurts."
Just because the guilty verdict will impact the film industry, should Salman walk free?
Meanwhile Salman's lawyers have appealed the verdict to the higher courts. In June, when Salman reappears in court, he will learn about the court's final determination on his fate.
The Salman Khan case and its verdict, and High Court's decision to release Salman on bail bring out the contrast between the haves and the have-nots in India.
Will his philanthropic work through his foundation "Being human" in helping poor children getting heart surgeries demonstrate that he has done a lot for humanity? Will the outlandish tweet, i.e., 'Roads are meant for cars and dogs, not for people sleeping on them' by Abhijeet also factor in to set Salman free?
Will the possibility of Bollywood's next five grim years without Salman influence the judge to commute his sentence?
After being convicted for a serious crime, during an appeal to the higher courts - can the convicted person's subsequent humanitarian work and good conduct be the justification for freedom for the likes of Salman Khan? Should the higher court give Salman the chance to do justice to his films instead of doling out due punishment for killing the homeless man? One has to ponder about such things.
The writer is a fiction
writer and a columnist. [email protected]