Salman Khan hit-and-run case: Court to give verdict date today

Mumbai: In the 2002 hit-and-run case involving Bollywood actor Salman Khan, a Mumbai trial court on Monday said the date of judgment will be announced on Tuesday. The defence and prosecution completed their final arguments today. [caption id=“attachment_2204148” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Salman Khan. AFP.[/caption] In his final arguments, the defence concluded it saying that the tyre-bust caused the mishap and Khan and his driver Ashok Singh is not responsible for the accident. It was pure case of accident, said Shrikant Shivade, defence lawyer. He further argued that defence did not get the opportunity to cross-examine constable Ravindra Patil, actor’s police bodyguard and an eyewitness who died during the course of the trial. “The charges were different earlier but now even though the facts remain same, other charge has been pressed. This charge is far more serious than the earlier. So, the evidence of eyewitness Ravindra Patil should not be accepted because he passed away and was not available for cross-examination. It will be dangerous to convict a person on basis of witness who has not faced cross examination,” said Shivade. Khan, accused of ramming his SUV into a bakery in suburban Bandra on 28 September 2002, killing one person and injuring four, is facing the charge of ‘culpable homicide not amounting to murder’. The actor had earlier faced the charge of causing death by negligence under section 304-A of the Indian Penal Code. The charge of 304 II of IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) was enhanced in 2013 that led to a retrial of the case. However, special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said that ample opportunity had been given to defence earlier for cross examining the witness. Gharat also spoke on law point and called the defence’ theory as ‘baseless’. Meanwhile, the sessions court issued notices to police inspector Rajendra Kane and two print media organizations for publishing the reports on the reconstruction of the accident after the defence and prosecution moved a contempt petition. The court has asked Kane and the media organizations to appear before it on Tuesday and give an explanation. “It is a very serious matter and may affect the case,” Gharat told the court. Few days ago, Kane and his team had recreated the accident scene. Though it was not submitted before the court, it was still reported with photographs of police team by a section of the media. Now, the court will hear the contempt proceedings on Tuesday and will also announce the date of judgement. On 23 April, the court will also hear an application filed by lawyer Abha Singh in which she has made some allegations against the defence and prosecution.