A sessions court in Mumbai sentenced Salman Khan to 5 years in prison for culpable homicide for the death of a man in the 2002 hit-and-run case. The Bollywood actor was held guilty of all counts in the 13-year-old case. Photo: Vivek Bendre
The actor was accused of poaching two Blackbucks in 1998 at a village near Jodhpur during the shooting of the film Hum Saath Saath Hain. In 2006, Khan was sentenced to one year imprisonment for hunting of the endangered species. Actor Saif Ali Khan was also accused in the case.
“It was the elite that was targeted this time. Five star hotels and all. So they panicked. Then they got up and spoke about it. My question is why not before? Attacks have happened in trains and small towns too, but no one talked about it so much,” Salman said during an interview to in 2010. Salman also claimed that Pakistan cannot be held responsible for the attacks. The actor, later apologised for his comments.
After their presence in ‘Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam’, the couple’s relationship was in the eye of the storm. After they broke up in 2002, Aishwarya alleged that the actor harassed her. The former Miss. World said that Khan was unable to come to terms with the ending of their relationship. A case was also registered against Salman by Aishwarya’s parents.
In 2008, the two actors allegedly got into a fistfight during a birthday party of Salman’s then girlfriend Katrina Kaif. The relationship between the two stars has never been the same since then and digs at the Khans’ relationship have filled up gossip columns. However, recently the two actors got back together on a good foot in an Iftar party and King Khan also attended Salman’s sister’s wedding to bless the couple. Shah Rukh also visited Salman hours before the verdict on the hit-and-run case.
Vivek Oberoi accused Salman of "threatening to kill him, abusing and indulging in character assassination." Rumour mill was spinning after this press conference as Vivek Oberoi and Aishwarya Rai were reportedly in a relationship.
Salman Khan is known to be a close friend of Namal Rajapaksa, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son. The actor appears to have, perhaps unknowingly, played an indirect role in the release of the five Indian fishermen on death row in Sri Lanka, <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/south-asia/how-colombo-released-the-indian-fishermen/article6625726.ece"> The Hindu had reported. </a> The actor also invited some flak over his association with the then Sri Lankan President. Photo: Special Arrangement
In 2007, the actor was also issued a 'fatwa' by a Uttar Pradesh-based Muslim clergy for celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi.