SC takes up case at behest of Maharashtra state Govt.
By Dileep Thekkethil
Salman Khan’s woes have not ended in the hit-and-run case.
The Supreme Court issued a notice to the actor after the Maharashtra government filed a petition challenging the verdict of the Bombay High court which acquitted Khan in the 2002 hit-and-run case.
The notice issued by an apex court comprising Justice Jagjit Singh Khehar and Justice C Nagappan has asked Khan to appear in the court as “it would be much, much better if he gets acquittal from this court as it will save him from all the repercussions”.
Congress leader and attorney Kapil Sibal, who appeared for the actor, walked the court through the proceedings completed in the trial court and the high court. The High Court had found that the actor’s conviction was based on a testimony of a single untrustworthy witness who cannot be relied upon.
Sibal also added that the trial court couldn’t find any other incriminating evidence to convict Khan in the infamous hit and run case.
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi countered Sibal’s preposition of the sole unreliable witness by stating that there were many other witness to the incident leading to the case as they saw Khan in the driver’s seat of the vehicle that ran over people who were sleeping in the road pavement, killing one of them.
Rohatgi told the bench, “There is every evidence in every stage against Salman. His acquittal is complete travesty of justice.”
History of the case
The accident happened on the night of September 28, 2002, when Salman Khan’s Land Cruiser SUV rammed into a roadside bakery killing one and injuring four others who were sleeping on road pavement. Even as Khan says that the car was driven by his driver, the prosecution accused him of driving the car without a proper license, that too under the influence of alcohol and causing an avoidable mishap.
According to the prosecutor, Pradeep Gharat, who appeared for the state in the Mumbai High Court, soon after the accident, the spot, which is close to Salman’s residence, was surrounded by an angry mob that carried stones and rods in their hands. Seeing the situation getting worse, Francis Fernandez, who is a close friend of the actor whom he addresses as “Commander”, asked him to take his wife’s car and leave the spot.
Gharat told the trial court while examining the evidence of Fernandez that Salman, soon after the accident, called out desperately, “Commander, save me”, to which Fernandez advised him to scoot from the scene as the mob might get even angrier and result in harming the Bollywood star.
Gharat said, “The actor ran away from the spot and did not help the victims by taking them to hospital.”
That said, Khan in a statement under Section 313 of CrPC, had earlier denied the charges of running away from the accident scene and told the court that his driver Ashok Singh, who was driving the car on that fateful day, was instructed to inform the police and to carry the injured to the hospital. Khan confessed that 15 minutes after the accident, on the advice of his friend, he left the spot.
According to the prosecutor, the immediate conduct of Salman reflects his guilt for driving the car and, therefore, he ran away from the spot without bothering to help the accident victims.