Mumbai: Bollywood actor Salman Khan has been found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol and killing a pavement dweller in the 2002 hit and run case. Judge DW Deshpande has convicted the actor of culpable homicide for crashing his SUV while drunk into a bakery killing one and injuring four. The actor listened to the verdict with tears in his eyes.
"All charges against you are proved. You were driving the car, without a licence and you were under the influence of alcohol," says Judge DW Deshpande.
When ask to respond in court, Salman denied the charges and said he was not behind the wheel during the time of the accident.
Arguing for a lenient sentence, Salman's lawyers requested the judge, "You can't punish him more because he is an actor. If he is to suffer, he should suffer as an ordinary person. Enhance the fine but don't punish me beyond three years."
Reportedly, Khan's lawyers said that if the actor is jailed for a lengthy period, he will not be able to donate to his trust "Being Human".
Khan’s lawyers added that “majority of the actor's income" is given to the organization that does "a lot of good work."
Earlier Khan said his driver Ashok Singh was driving the Toyota Land Cruiser which rammed into the bakery on September 28, 2002.The court relied upon judgements in Alistair Pereira and Nikhil Nanda BMW case of Delhi while convicting Salman.
Also read: Salman Khan convicted in 2002 hit-and-run case, faces jail
The actor had claimed he was not at the wheel at the time of the accident which killed one person and left four others injured on the night of September 28, 2002. While the prosecution had insisted a drunk Khan was driving the Toyota Land Cruiser that ran over the victims sleeping on the pavement outside a bakery in suburban Bandra, the actor claimed it was his driver Ashok Singh who was behind the wheel. Driver Singh has endorsed the defence's claim.
The defence also argued that police had not obtained finger prints from the steering wheel to find out who was driving the vehicle. Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat had alleged that Khan was driving the vehicle after consuming Bacardi rum at a bar, a charge denied by the actor, who said he had just a glass of water.
The defence also disputed the prosecution's contention that there were three persons in the vehicle--Khan, his police bodyguard Ravindra Patil and singer friend Kamal Khan, insisting that driver Ashok Singh was also present.
Khan's counsel Srikant Shivade had argued that the post-mortem report of the deceased indicated he had died after being crushed. Shivade contended the man was killed when a crane called by the police to lift Khan's SUV could not haul it up at one go and dropped it on the victims, causing injuries.
The defence counsel also claimed the accident was caused after the driver lost control due to a tyre burst. He also said the road was under repair and stones lay scattered all over the place.
To nail the actor, the prosecution heavily relied upon the statement by Khan's bodyguard Ravindra Patil, who had said the actor paid no heed to his warning not to drive rashly.
Patil, who died during the pendency of the trial, had also said Khan was under the influence of liquor at the time of the accident. He had, however, not said a word about driver Ashok Singh being behind the wheel when the accident occurred. The defence called Ravindra Patil a "liar" and claimed he was asleep in the vehicle when the accident occurred.
Khan's counsel had sought discarding Patil's evidence as he had died and was not available for cross examination. The court had taken Patil's evidence on record and said it will decide on its evidentiary value.
The defence lawyer also disputed the prosecution's claim that it had taken Khan 30 minutes to drive his SUV from JW Marriot Hotel to the accident spot at a speed of 90 km per hour after ingesting drinks. The lawyer argued as the distance was not much, it would take Khan only ten minutes to cover it and claimed the case was "false".
The prosecution also alleged that Khan was driving without holding a licence. To buttress its charge, the prosecution produced RTO records to show that the actor had procured a licence only in 2004, two years after the tragedy.
The actor had, however, said the licence procured in 2004 was not his first. The prosecution also alleged that Khan was driving the car without holding a licence. It produced RTO records to show that the actor had procured a licence only in 2004, two years after the mishap.
The actor, however, pleaded that this was not the first licence obtained by him. The court would also pass order on an application filed by activist Santosh Daundkar alleging that police had committed perjury (giving false evidence) by examining a wrong set of doctors and delaying the trial by three years.
The application alleged that police had not examined a key witness -- Kamaal Khan, singer and friend of Khan -- who was in the car along with the actor at the relevant time. Khan is facing charges under provisions of IPC, Motor Vehicles Act and Bombay Prohibition Act.
Salman has been booked under Section 304 A of the Indian Penal Code (rash and negligent driving), 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing minor injuries), 338 (causing major injuries) and 427 (negligence) in connection with the case.
The verdict, which has broken the hearts of millions of Salman's fans across the country, will also adversely affect his forthcoming films like 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' and 'Prem Ratan Dhan Payo'.
(With agency inputs)
