DNA
  
Mumbai, Mar 24: Salman Khan’s frequent legal tussles have left father Salim a much agonised man, but for a change, the Bollywood scriptwriter is smiling. The reason: his application for a gun licence has finally been cleared by the state home ministry.

“My application had been pending for quite some time. I have no violent record. I am just fond of having guns. I must thank Mr AN Roy (commissioner of police) for considering my application and approving it,” said a grateful Salim, who made his claim to fame by co-scripting blockbusters like Sholay and Deewar.

Roy said, “I have okayed his licence. Unlike Salman, Salim Khan has no blemish in police records.” Sources said Salman’s frequent brushes with the law were to be blamed for the delay in Salim getting the licence.

Home Minister RR Patil has made mandatory stringent screening of credentials of people applying for gun licence. “Getting a gun licence is not that easy these days,” said home ministry sources.

…but Salman is up against it

Another witness deposed against Salman Khan in the hit-and-run case on Thursday. Ramasray Pandey, 44, said he had seen the actor get off the driver’s seat after the vehicle rammed into five people outside the American Express laundry in Bandra in September 2002. Pandey said after the accident when the crowd tried to stop the two men, they fled leaving behind a third person. “I later identified him as Ravindra Patil, Khan’s bodyguard.”