Petitioners alleged Khan used money to secure acquittal.
By Sreekanth A Nair
The Supreme Court of India dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking a CBI probe into Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s hit-and-run case alleging that the actor had spent money to get the acquittal.
The court termed the allegation ‘wild’ and said there was no evidence to prove this.
Earlier, there were reports quoting Salim Khan, father of Salman Khan, that the family had spent Rs. 25 crore to secure Salman Khan’s acquittal.
“These are all wild allegations. He must have spent Rs. 25 crore on lawyers,” the court said.
“What are the materials to substantiate this? They must have hired lawyers. How can you say that they did something wrong,” the court added.
The PIL was filed by Begumjaha Haroon Khan, the widow of Shaikh Noorulla Shafik, a victim of the accident, and his son Firoz Shaikh.
The same bench comprising Justices J S Khehar and R Banumathi that dismissed the PIL is hearing the appeals of Maharashtra government and the families of the victims.
On December 10, the Bombay High Court acquitted the actor and revoked his imprisonment in the hit-and-run case.
The Bombay High Court had observed that the prosecution failed to prove beyond doubt that Salman was driving the ill-fated Toyota Land Cruiser or he was under the influence of alcohol when the vehicle rammed into people who were sleeping on the pavement.