Despite repeated and aggressive attempts by Jiah Khan’s mother to implicate Sooraj Pancholi, Salman Khan stands by the beleaguered star-son. Not only does the unit of Salman’s first official production under the banner Salman Khan Productions stand by Sooraj, Salman and Sooraj also share the same lawyer Shrikant Shivade. On Monday when Mrs Rabia Khan fired a fresh set of salvos at Sooraj, insinuating that the witnesses who had testified in Sooraj’s favour had turned hostile, Shivade was in Jodhpur attending to Salman Khan’s ‘black buck’ case in the local court. The lawyer rushed back on Tuesday to attend to the latest crisis in Sooraj’s case. Says a source, “Salman is going all-out to ensure Sooraj’s debut is a smooth one. Salman did something for Sooraj that he doesn’t ever do: he allowed Sooraj to practice his stunts on his farm in Panvel for Hero. Salman’s lawyer has been asked to leave no stone unturned to get the case against Sooraj quashed in the next hearing on 24 March. Sooraj’s defence team is confident of extricating Sooraj from the legal tangle at the next hearing. They have also built a water-tight case for defamation against Jiah’s mother.” Sooraj’s father Aditya Pancholi says, “Yes, our lawyer is Shrikant Shivade. We are not worried at all about Sooraj’s future. And neither is he.” After the latest allegations against Sooraj by Jiah’s mother, Aditya offered to fly down to Manali with Sooraj’s mother Zarina Wahab. But Sooraj turned down the offer. “My son told me and my wife not to worry about him. He is focusing on his action scenes and he is not the least ruffled. I am very proud of my son. At 22 he is more mature than I am at my age. No harm will come to our boy. He’s a blessed child,” says Aditya emotionally, adding that Jiah’s mother is doing what she is for the money. “Insurance laws in the US where Jiah was born do not cover suicides. So Rabia is trying to change her daughter’s suicide into a murder.” Aditya demands a special investigation into the matter. “In this, I am one with Rabia. She wants a special investigation into her daughter’s death. I say I am all for it. Let’s have a special investigation. It will expose only the truth. And the truth is, my boy has done no wrong.”