A court in Mumbai will decide today on superstar Salman Khan's appeal against his conviction in the 2002 hit-and-run case, in which he was found guilty of running over pavement dwellers with his SUV after a night out drinking.


The Bombay High Court started dictating its order yesterday. In May this year, the actor was sentenced by a lower court to five years in jail after being convicted of "culpable homicide not amounting to murder".


The 49-year-old actor then appealed against the conviction in the Bombay High Court which suspended his sentence.In the early hours of September 28, 2002, the actor's Toyota Land Cruiser crashed into five men sleeping outside the American Bakery in suburban Bandra and ran over a group of sleeping people.


One person, Nurullah Sharif, died in the accident and four were injured - Abdullah Shaikh, Muslim Shaikh, Munnu Khan and Mohammed Kalim. Eyewitnesses have told the trial court that the actor was seen getting out of the driver's side of the car.


However, Salman Khan's lawyers have argued that it was driver Ashok Singh, and not the actor who was driving that night.


The High Court will give its ruling on whether the actor was indeed driving the car in a drunk state.


Last month, Salman Khan's plea to make singer Kamaal Khan a witness in the case was dismissed by the court. Kamaal Khan was in the car with Salman Khan on the night of the accident.Salman Khan has starred in more than 100 films and television shows and is one of Bollywood's busiest actors. He is said to have Rs. 200 crore riding on him with many films in the pipeline. He also endorses 10 brands.