Salman to Surrender, Leaves for Jodhpur

Actor Salman Khan will surrender on Saturday before a Jodhpur court after a non-bailable warrant was issued against him following the dismissal of his appeal against a five-year jail term given to him for poaching the endangered chinkara.

"He will be flying to Jodhpur and surrender before a court there," his lawyer Dipesh Mehta told PTI in Mumbai. Salman left for Jodhpur on a flight from Mumbai at 11.30 am.

Speaking to reporters before getting into his SUV outside his residence, Salman said, "A warrant has been apparently issued and as per advice from my lawyers, I am going to Jodhpur to surrender."

"Nobody has told me to get there but I am going there as a responsible citizen who abides by the law," he added. A sessions court in Jodhpur yesterday upheld a lower court's judgement of April 2006 sentencing Salman to prison in the 1998 poaching case.

The court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, which had convicted Salman last year, issued the non-bailable warrant against him yesterday afternoon and sent it to police for execution. The actor evaded immediate arrest as he did not appear in the sessions court, with his lawyer saying there was no directive for his appearance.

A team from the Jodhpur police will be reportedly leaving for executing the warrant today. "We have informed authorities in Jodhpur about the surrender," Mehta said.

The Jet Airways flight on which Salman Khan is travelling, is expected to reach Jodhpur at around 1.30 pm. Clad in a white T-shirt, cargo pants and sporting sunglasses, Salman was seen hugging his close relatives before leaving his home.

His brothers Sohail and Arbaaz were seen at the residence in Bandra's Galaxy Apartments and so was sister-in-law Malaika Arora [Images] Khan, an ex-video jockey. It was not immediately clear as to who would be accompanying Salman to Jodhpur.

Following the verdict, Salman's lawyers had said that they would be filing a revision petition in the Rajasthan High Court seeking suspension of the five year sentence and hearing of his case on priority.

"Though the high court is shut, I would make efforts for the revision petition to be filed at the court registrar's office on Saturday itself so that relief is granted to Salman as soon as possible," Mehta said.

The star was convicted for poaching a chinkara in 1998 during the shooting of the film Hum Saath Saath Hain.

He was also given a one-year jail term in a separate poaching case in Jodhpur and has appealed against that sentence. In his judgement yesterday, District and Sessions Judge V R Singhvi said no court could avoid the circumstantial evidence available on record against Salman.

Bollywood actor Dutt freed on bail in India

MUMBAI - Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, jailed for six years for receiving guns from gangsters involved in the country’s worst bombings, was released from prison on bail in western India early on Thursday.

Dutt, sporting a beard and a shaved head, walked free following 24 days in jail and after being granted bail by the Supreme Court on Monday while his lawyers challenge the conviction.

“I just want to thank all my fans who supported me, and all those who stood for three days outside the jail and I couldn’t meet,” Dutt told reporters at his residence.

“I have a long battle to fight. Please pray for me and thank you.”

The macho actor began serving his six-year sentence on July 31 -- less the 16 months he served while awaiting trial over the bomb attacks that killed 257 people in India’s commercial capital of Mumbai in 1993.

Dutt, 48, stepped out of the jail in Pune city and shook the hands of police officers before leaving for home.

Dressed in a white, striped shirt, he was received by a few friends and lawyers, flown to Mumbai in a private jet and then driven to his house in a black limousine.

“I knew he would walk out free. I’m so happy,” Trishala Dutt, the actor’s daughter and a US resident, told local television by telephone. “I can’t believe it’s happening.”

The actor, who earned fame playing anti-hero and gangster roles, was welcomed by family and friends, some of whom had arrived from overseas. A coconut was broken at the doorstep as an auspicious ritual and part of an emotional reception.

His sister Priya, a lawmaker in India’s lower house of parliament, hugged him as he arrived home. Dozens of fans scrambled for a glimpse of the actor outside his home in a swish Mumbai neighbourhood.

His family plans a special thanksgiving prayer to be performed by Hindu priests.

“I will abide by the court,” Dutt said, adding that he had full faith in the judiciary. “

Jubilant Bollywood

But the respite for Dutt could be temporary.

His lawyers had petitioned the country’s top court against his conviction and sought bail until that appeal was ruled on.

They said they could not argue the case as they were yet to get a copy of the judgment of the Mumbai court that sentenced Dutt. The court agreed to release the actor until the lawyers get a copy of the verdict.

Court officials said Dutt could be served a copy in a month’s time, after which he might have to go back to jail.

Dutt’s temporary release was welcomed by Bollywood, which has stood solidly behind a man they think was impulsive but had suffered enough for his indiscretions.

“The last 14 years of uncertainty and anxiety and the jail terms in between have been enough punishment for him,” said Ravi Chopra, a top Bollywood producer. “The court can now be lenient.”

Dutt has about $12 million riding on him -- a substantial amount by Bollywood standards -- in three films under production.

“We can think about him working later. What’s important now is for him to spend time with his family,” his lawyer Satish Maneshinde told Reuters.

Dutt’s lawyers have argued that his conviction by a special anti-terrorism court in Mumbai was based on a confession that he had later retracted.

“A retracted confession is a weak piece of evidence,” the petition said, arguing that the conviction should also be overturned because no arms or ammunition were ever recovered from Dutt or his home.

It urged the court to award him some form of punishment other than jail.

Dutt was among the last of 100 people convicted in the blast case.

- Reuters