BJP slammed MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday for calling on Bollywood actor Salman Khan.

Mumbai: MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Thursday called on Bollywood actor Salman Khan, who was convicted by a sessions court in the 2002 hit-and-run case and is on interim bail till Friday, at his residence in suburban Bandra.

However, the ruling BJP disapproved of the gesture, saying a politician paying visit to a person convicted by a court of law is not a "good precedent". Thackeray, known to be close to the actor, met Salman and his family members at his Galaxy apartment in the posh suburb. The MNS chief did not interact with the media. Before him, actor-producer Aamir Khan also called on the actor.

Taking a dim view of Thackeray's meeting with the actor, BJP's Mumbai unit chief Ashish Shelar said though calling on a person is a personal issue but one should take cognisance of the verdict in the case. "Meeting a person at his home is a personal issue. But meeting somebody who has been convicted by court is not a good precedent as far as politicians are concerned," Shelar said in a statement.

Congress leaders, however, sought to downplay the issue by evading a query on the propriety of a politician meeting a convicted person. When the party's stand was sought on the issue, city unit Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said he did not want to go into the merit of the issue since it was not clear whether Thackeray had any political intention behind his visit.

He, however, said, "everyone must respect judiciary in the letter and spirit." Salman was on Wednesday sentenced by a sessions court to five years' rigorous imprisonment, but he swiftly moved the Bombay High Court which granted him interim bail till Friday when it will hear his plea against conviction.

People on Twitter also expressed their outrage over Raj Thackeray's visit to Salman Khan's residence.

Raj Thackeray's friend Salman Khan got 5 yrs jail due to testimony of Marathi Manoos cop late Ravindra Patil for whom Raj never spoke a word — Jitendra Dixit (@jitendradixit) May 7, 2015

Raj Thackeray is at Salman Khan's house, reportedly. What's that saying about birds, feathers, and flocking together again? — Suprateek Chatterjee (@SupraMario) May 7, 2015

Newbies in Bollywood go to Galaxy Apt since it is like going to Matoshree for them,but Raj Thackeray sahib you also? #SalmanVerdict #Salman — Prashant Navadgi (@pnavadgi) May 8, 2015

(With inputs from PTI)