Actor Salman Khan may face fresh trouble with Maharashtra government’s latest move. The government has informed the Bombay High Court that it will challenge the verdict that acquitted the actor of all charges in the 2002 hit-and-run case. The appeal will now go to the Supreme Court.
The government told the high court of its decision to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court to appeal against the acquittal by Justice AR Joshi. Khan’s sentence was totally reversed from the trial court judgement that sentenced the actor to five years’ imprisonment.
The Law and Judiciary department had accorded sanction to the prosecution to file the SLP, government lawyer Abhinandan Vagyani told the bench.
The SLP would be filed in due course, Vagyani said during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by senior journalist Nikhil Wagle. The PIL sought compensation from Salman Khan for victims of the 2002 hit-and-run incident.
On December 10, Justice AR Joshi had acquitted Salman Khan of all the charges. He said the prosecution had failed to prove that it was Salman Khan who was driving the car that night and that he was, in fact, drunk. The judge did not consider the testimony of Ravindra Patil, Salman Khan’s bodyguard at the time, calling him unreliable.
On May 6, the sessions court had sentenced Khan to five years jail after it held him guilty of offences including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
According to the prosecution’s case, on 28 September 2002, Salman Khan had rammed his car into a bakery in suburban Bandra. One person was killed and four others, who were sleeping on the footpath, were injured.
The actor has deposited a compensation for the families of the victims as directed by court, but Wagle’s petition is being heard as the court expanded its scope to include enhancement of punishment in accident cases.
During the hearing of Wagle’s PIL, the HC sought some answers from the government.
The bench wanted to know from the government lawyer,
- What type of devices were available to hold blood analysis test of the accused in hit-and-run cases to determine consumption of alcohol.
- Within how much time is the blood test conducted in accident cases.
To this, Vagyani replied that the first 5-7 hours after the accident are crucial when ideally such examination is done. It is also prescribed in the Police Manual and Drugs and Psychotrophic Substances Act.
The court, however, wanted to know whether there are any guidelines framed in this regard. The matter has been posted for hearing in January.
The case which has been closely watched in the past few months has led to a huge debate on whether Khan’s stardom has had a role to play in his acquittal.
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