MUMBAI (TIP): Mumbai High Court, on May 8, suspended the sentence of Bollywood celebrity actor Salman Khan. In a judgment delivered  May 8  Justice Desai of Mumbai High Court suspended the sentence of 5 years in jail awarded earlier on May 6. However, Salman Khan is required to surrender before the Sessions Court and obtain a regular bail.

Earlier on May 6, Khan was sentenced to five years in jail by a Mumbai Court in a 13 year old case of hit and run driving incident in Mumbai in which a homeless man was killed while four others were run over.

Salman Khan was charged with culpable homicide. The Sessions court found the actor guilty of all counts of charges which included drunken driving, driving without valid license, running away from the scene of the incident and causing death of a man, besides causing injuries to four others.

Khan had said his driver was behind the wheel, but Judge D.W. Deshpande found him guilty on the charge of culpable homicide.

“You were driving the car; you were under the influence of alcohol,” he told the actor as soon as the court proceedings began.

The case has gripped Bollywood and India for 13 years, since 2002.

Late on the night of 28 September 2002, Khan’s Toyota Land Cruiser hit the American Express bakery in the Bandra area of Mumbai, authorities say.

The vehicle ran over five people sleeping on the street, killing 38-year-old Noor Ullah Khan and seriously injuring three others. Another person received minor injuries.

The prosecution alleged that Khan had been driving the car while drunk. Giving evidence in March., Khan had denied he was drunk or that he was driving the vehicle.

But many witnesses disagreed.

A constable attached to Khan’s security detail said in a statement to the police that the “drunk” actor had lost control of the car. The policeman died in 2007 of tuberculosis.

In April, Khan’s driver told the court that he had crashed the car after a tire burst but the court did not accept that version.

[quote_center]Timeline of the case[/quote_center]

September 2002: Salman Khan’s car runs over five people sleeping on a Mumbai street, killing a homeless man and injuring four others

October 2002: Khan charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder – arrested but granted bail

May 2003: Court rejects his plea to drop culpable homicide charge

June 2003: Bombay high court drops culpable homicide charge; actor is then tried for rash and negligent driving

October 2007: Prime witness, a constable who served in his security detail, dies

March 2015: Khan tells the court he was not drunk and his driver was behind the wheel

May 6, 2015: Khan found guilty, sentenced to jail for five years

May 6, 2015: Mumbai High Court grants interim bail to Khan for two days, until May 8