'Why did high court hear Salman's appeal out of turn?'

Shashikala Bhagwan Gangurde has filed a petition in the Bombay high court on behalf of her husband, as he languishes in prison awaiting bail for years

A petition in Bombay high court has objected to appeals of celebrities, including film actors Shiney Ahuja and Salman Khan, against their conviction coming up for hearing "out of turn", while many other convicts wait endlessly in jail for justice.

Shashikala Bhagwan Gangurde has filed the petition on behalf of her incarcerated husband and many other convicts who eagerly wait in jails for many years to get bail and struggle hard to ensure that their appeals are listed for final hearing before the high court. The petition is slated to come up for hearing on July 20 before a bench of Justice Ranjit More.

The petitioner has cited the case of Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja who was convicted in March 2011 on charges of raping his maid, saying that his appeal has been listed already for final hearing. It also referred to the case of actor Salman Khan, who was recently sentenced to five years jail term in a hit-and-run case, in which one person was killed and four others injured. The petition alleged that Salman's appeal too has been listed out of turn for the final hearing.

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The petitioner argued it was discriminatory on the part of respondents -- the registrar general (judicial) of the high court and the Maharashtra government -- in placing all matters of celebrities and high profile personalities for the final hearing on an urgent basis, in spite of being filed much later.

The petition asked whether the respondents were justified in placing of appeals of celebrities for the final hearing on out-of-turn basis while ignoring poor persons who are still languishing behind bars. It also wondered whether the authorities were justified in having "discriminatory" attitude while functioning in the temple of Justice.

The petitioner submitted that her husband was convicted in a murder case in 2009 and he had urged for bail but the plea was rejected. The HC had directed the registry to place his appeal for final hearing in October 2009 but till date it has not come up for hearing. It also cited another case of a young boy who was in love with a girl whom he later married. On a complaint filed by his mother-in-law, the 27-year-old boy was convicted on rape charge and his appeal is still pending. There are many others like him who eagerly wait for their appeals to be listed for final hearing in HC, said the petition.