Salman Khan’s acquittal in the 2002 hit-and-run case is a miscarriage of justice, the Maharashtra government argued in the Supreme Court on Friday and sought a reversal of the Bombay high court’s order.
A-G Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the state, described as “perverse” and travesty of justice the high court order in December last, overturning the trail court’s verdict sentencing him to five years’ imprisonment.
Tracing through the history of the case, the A-G submitted before a bench of Justices J.S. Khehar and C. Nagappan that Salman Khan had consumed liquor and was drunk, he was driving the Land Cruiser which killed a person sleeping on the pavement. “He knew he should not be driving under the influence of alcohol,” Mr Rohatgi said. He also said the theory that the car was being driven by Mr Khan’s driver, who surfaced after 13 years, should be discarded. He pointed that for 13 years, his family had maintained that the driver was at home when the incident occurred. The HC’s finding that Salman Khan was not driving the vehicle at the time of the accident is suspicious.
In May last year, a trial court had ruled that the actor was guilty of running over a man sleeping on the pavement outside a bakery in Mumbai after a night out drinking on September 28, 2002. The high court quashed the order, holding that the prosecution had failed to establish reasonable beyond doubt that the actor was driving and was drunk at the time of the accident. The HC did not accept the testimony of a key prosecution witness — the actor’s bodyguard Ravindra Patil — who had said that Mr Khan was driving drunk and had ignored his repeated warnings. Mr Patil died of tuberculosis in 2007.
Salman’s senior counsel Kapil Sibal told the court that he would produce translated version of the FIR.
Justice Khehar told the A-G that since this was a case of acquittal, “We want to look into the entire evidence before we decide to issue a notice to the actor.” The A-G said he will take the court through the entire evidence to drive home the point that the intervention of the apex court is called for reversing the high court’s order.
Salman Khan’s senior counsel Kapil Sibal told the court that he would produce translated version of the FIR and the court posted the matter for further hearing on February 12.
