NEW DELHI (AFP) - An Indian court on Friday jailed the well-connected son of a rich arms dealer for five years for killing six people in a hit-and-run car accident nearly a decade ago, lawyers said.

The trial has been in the media spotlight because of Sanjeev Nanda's influential background, allegations of witness intimidation and a TV clip showing the defence and prosecution lawyers striking a deal to bail the accused out.

His homicide conviction earlier this week was also taken as a sign that India's rich and powerful can no longer act with the impunity of the past, even if the judicial system remains deeply flawed.

Nanda, 30, was found guilty for drunkenly crashing his BMW car into a police checkpost -- killing three policemen and three homeless people.

Another businessman, the father of Nanda's friend, was jailed for a year for destroying evidence by removing flesh and blood stains from the car.

But defence lawyer Prem Kumar said Nanda -- also the grandson of India's former navy chief -- will appeal against what he said was a "harsh" sentence.

Court cases in India often drag on for years because of repeated adjournments and a massive backlog and the rich and the powerful frequently get away by bribing witnesses.

But trials involving well-known people face intense media scrutiny.

Two years ago, a court retried and jailed the son of a well-known politician for the murder of a fashion model in 1999 after widespread public outrage over his initial acquittal on the grounds of lack of evidence.

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