Salman Khan hit-and-run: Car falling on victims from police crane to blame, argues defence

 

Mumbai: In a new twist to their arguments, the lawyer of Bollywood actor Salman Khan today told the trial court that victims of 2002-hit-and-run case sustained serious injuries not in the mishap itself, but when the wrecked car fell on them while being lifted by a crane.

 

The prosecution's case is that Mr Khan rammed his Toyota Land Cruiser into a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one and injuring four others.

 

"There are circumstances to suggest that the car dropped on the persons who were underneath when it was being lifted with the help of a crane brought by police after the mishap," said defence lawyer Shrikant Shivade in his final arguments before sessions judge D W Deshpande. He also argued that the post-mortem of the deceased revealed that 'his lungs were crushed completely', and this could happen 'when a heavy object falls on the victim.'

 

He read out statements of witnesses to argue that 'there were no blood-stains on bedsheets and pillow covers' (the victims were sleeping on the sheets spread on steps of the bakery) and 'nor was there any blood on the steps'.

 

"The victims stated that they were dragged down by the impact. Had they been run over by the car, they would have been in the same position (stuck under wheels) but they stated that their position shifted," he said.

 

"This explains why no blood stains or tyre marks were found on the steps. Admittedly, the car had fallen on them when it was being lifted with the help of crane. The bumper too was intact but it had come off and was removed after the car was lifted," Mr Shivade further submitted.

 

"If they (police) say that the vehicle was speeding at 90 kms per hour, how was the bumper found intact (after the mishap).If tyre soaks in blood and travels some distance there are bound to be tyre marks on the steps but this was absent," he said.

 

"I am trying to explain why the crane driver's statement was not recorded," advocate added.

 

Mr Shivade also cited one of the injured persons who had said before the magistrate that he had not seen anyone getting down from the car as he was trapped under it. However, in the trial before the sessions court, he said that Mr Khan got down from the car, contradicting himself.

 

The lawyer quoted Mohammed Abdulla and Narulla, who were caught under the car. "Because of the dragging of the car we found our position shifted a short distance away after the mishap. Till the car was lifted, the two of us were crying for help," he quoted from their statements.

 

"If accident was the cause of injuries, would they be in the position to cry for help?," the defence lawyer asked the court.

 

While the prosecution's case was that the injured were removed and then the car was lifted, Mr Khan's lawyer argued that the car was lifted first.

 

Mr Khan's lawyer further argued that section 304-II of the Indian Penal Code (culpable homicide not amounting to murder),

which attracts ten years' imprisonment, was wrongly invoked in this case, because the prosecution could not prove that the death was caused by the act.

 

Citing an example, Mr Shivade said, "Person A slashes the palm of person B, the latter goes to a hospital and gets it bandaged, however gangrene sets in. Does it mean that person A has murdered person B? Death is traceable to the act, but has the act caused it?"

 

The Sessions court is conducting a fresh trial after the a magistrate's court upgraded the charges against Mr Khan in the case to 'culpable homicide not amounting to murder.'

 

Mr Khan's father, script-writer Salim Khan, his mother Salma and sister Alvira were present during the proceedings.