2002 hit-and-run case: Salman Khan's SUV wasn't speeding, claims lawyer

Mumbai: Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s lawyer told the court on Thursday that the circumstantial evidence shows that Khan’s vehicle was not speeding and that the motor vehicle officer was not an expert to examine the vehicle. Srikant Shivade, his lawyer, told Judge DW Deshpande that the motor vehicle expert had just conducted his tests on Indian made cars in his entire life and not checked for an imported car. “On the day when the alleged accident took place, the circumstantial evidence points out a fact that the car was not at the speed of 90-100 km/hour,” Shivade claimed adding that the main reason for the defence to believe was that the airbags did not inflate. [caption id=“attachment_2199746” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Salman Khan in a file photo. AFP[/caption] He further argued that the motor vehicle expert did not use modern technology to check what was the main reason behind the mishap as the police did not want to investigate actual truth. While raising a question on the prosecution’s theory, he further said that the prosecution’s case says that it is a one sided collision with a speed of 90-100 km/hr. “It is nothing but cold blooded lie. How it is that there is no damage to the car and not even to the bonnet. How is it that the air bag did not inflate? It falsifies security guard Ravindra Patil’s version that the car was having speed of 90-100km/hr,” Shivade argued. Shivade further said that there was a formula to calculate the speed of the vehicle after looking at the tyre marks of the vehicle. But, the expert claims that there were no such marks. “Then, how is it that the vehicle was in speed?” he said. He further said that the car was designed in such a way that in case of major accidents, the censors which were fixed in the cars, would deploy signals to the electronic system of the car that would cause the inflation of the airbags. “How is it that the car which is met with such a huge accident has not damaged any of its internal parts? There was no aviator leakage, no air bag deployed and no oil leakage,” said Shivde claiming that the motor vehicle report was a falsified report. He argued that the prosecution’s case was a concocted one and claimed that the defence’s theory of the blast of the tyre due to small stones which resulted in the steering got hard and caused the alleged accident is applicable.