DUBAI // Organisers of an awards show in Dubai have defended hiring Bollywood star Salman Khan, who is awaiting an appeal against a conviction for culpable homicide.
Friday’s show at Meydan Racecourse will be Khan’s first overseas appearance since he was sentenced this month to five years’ jail for the hit-and-run death of a homeless man in Mumbai in 2002. Khan is on bail pending the July appeal and had to obtain court permission to leave India.
Abdullatif Al Sayegh, chairman of the Arab-Indo Bollywood Awards, said Khan was booked because he “remains a hero in millions of hearts.
“Salman Khan is a superstar and the lives of superstars are always full of such controversies in all parts of the world,” Mr Al Sayegh said.
“He is no exception. The Dubai people are great fans of Salman Khan. We are positive that Friday night will be a great night for Khan fans.”
The Bombay high court set the condition that Khan must check in with the Indian consulate when he arrived in Dubai.
The consulate said on Wednesday that it had received no information about the visit.
“We have not received any official correspondence or instructions from India that Khan has to report at the consulate about his stay in Dubai,” said Tarun Kumar, a consular spokesman.
Mr Kumar said the court had allowed Khan to travel but “this will be the first case of its kind that we have dealt with”.
P Deepak, a criminal and immigration lawyer, believed Khan would not have any problems with immigration authorities.
“He is on bail already and his case is still under trial, so he cannot be declared a convicted criminal,” said Mr Deepak, who has practised law in the UAE for 10 years.
Habib Rahimaan, managing director of the Benchmark Group, which is organising the Arab-Indo Bollywood Awards, was confident Khan would be granted a visa into the UAE.
“Khan is coming here with all kinds of legal permissions and everything is public today. Why should he face any problem entering Dubai?” Mr Rahimaan asked.
“He is a star and there are millions of fans in the UAE who are desperately waiting to see his performance at the show.”
He said Khan would be staying at a hotel close to Meydan Racecourse.
Mr Rahimaan said that if Khan’s application had been rejected, it would have been “a major blow as millions of dirhams were depending on his participation at the event”.
The show will be Khan’s first performance in the UAE for eight years. The Bombay high court also ordered that Khan submit a cash bond of 200,000 rupees, about Dh11,500, as surety that he would return.
He must also surrender his passport to police within 12 hours of his return to India.
akhaishgi@thenational.ae