At 12.30 pm, Justice D W Deshpande adjourned the Sessions court for 40 minutes. He needed time to figure the sentence to be pronounced for convict Salman Khan in the 2002 hit-and-run case.
Those 40 minutes were extended to 55 minutes, thanks to sudden power failure probably the longest 55 minutes the Khans have gone through in their lifetimes. The tension was evident in their body languages as they sat in the courtroom.
The news of his verdict had already reached his mother Salma. A friend of the actor who was at his house said, “When Arbaaz called her and told her about it, she broke down.”
During this recess, Salman stepped down from the witness box and went near a window to get some fresh air. His business manager, and sisters Arpita and Alvira reached out to him. Arpita leaned over her brother’s shoulder for emotional support and Alvira reassured him that all would be good.
It was at this moment that Salman made his only request of the day. He asked his manager for her phone and rang up his mother. He spoke to her for about a minute or two, reassuring her several times in those few seconds that she should keep her faith in God, says an eyewitness present at the court hearing.
After being sentenced to five years imprisonment and Rs 25000 as a penalty by the Sessions Court, he got an interim bail for two days from the High Court soon after. The next hearing is on Friday.
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