Prosecution failed to prove Salman was driving and drunk: HC

The Bombay High court which recently wrapped up the hearing on actor Salman Khan’s conviction in the 2002 hit-and-run case, on Wednesday observed that the prosecution has not been able “to prove beyond reasonable doubt” that Salman Khan was driving the vehicle or was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident.

The observation came during Justice A R Joshi’s ongoing dictation of the verdict before the open court. After the conclusion of the case, Justice Joshi began dictation of the judgment since Monday and the much awaited verdict is likely to be pronounced on Thrusday.

The court termed Ravindra Patil, Salman’s then police bodyguard “not wholly reliable witness” and said it was difficult to rely on his testimony. Patil, who passed away in 2007 after suffering from tuberculosis, was with the actor in the vehicle which ran over pavement dwellers killing one person and injuring four others on September 28, 2002.

"If the witness is partly reliable then corroboration is required. Ravindra Patil cannot be considered as a wholly reliable witness," Justice Joshi ovserved, asserting that the sessions court had made a mistake by admitting his statement.

The court also observed that in his statement to police recorded hours after the accident that day, Ravindra Patil made no mention about Salman being drunk, but said this few days later on October 1, 2002 after the receipt of Salman’s blood sample tests reports.

It also said that singer Kamaal Khan, who was also in Salman Khan's vehicle that night, should have been examined, and dismissed the prosecutions arguement saying, “The defence brought the witness at an appropriate time, it is not delayed defence."

An appeal filed by Salman last month to make Kamaal Khan a witness in the case was dismissed by the court.

A Mumbai sessions court had on May 6, convicted Salman of culpable homicide not amounting to murder among other charges, and sentenced him to five years in jail after finding him guilty of mowing down one person and injuring four others in Bandra, thirteen years ago.

Salman on the same day appealed against the conviction to the High court, which put a stay on the sentence pending hearing on May 8. The actor is currently out on bail.