MUMBAI: A Mumbai court postponed the hearing of the case involving Bollywood actor Salman Khan running over a group of persons who were sleeping on the pavement in front of a suburban bakery in 2002. One person was killed and four others were injured in the hit-and-run. The hearing has been postponed till January 21, 2014, after the prosecution sought time to appeal against the fresh retrial order in the Bombay High Court in December 2013.
Public prosecutor J V Kendralkar informed session court Judge D W Deshpande that the prosecution was awaiting the state government’s response in the matter and accordingly sought a postponement. However, Khan’s lawyer Shrikant Shivade opposed the prosecution plea and urged the fresh trial to commence immediately. He also pleaded to the court to grant a short date to the prosecution for adjourning the case. Judge Deshpande posted the matter for January 21 and directed the prosecution to get instructions from the government on the issue of appeal before the high court. On December 5, in a relief to the Bollywood superstar, a session court in Mumbai had ordered commencement of a fresh trial in the case. The grounds for the request of a fresh trial were on the basis of Khan not being given an opportunity to examine witnesses in the context of the enhanced charges against him of committing culpable homicide under Indian Penal Code Section 304(2), which were slapped on him midway during the trial.
Earlier, the actor was tried by a magistrate court for the lesser offence of causing death by negligence which is punishable by imprisonment for up to two years. However, under the charges pressed against him now, the actor may receive a jail term of ten years.
After examining 17 witnesses, the magistrate court held that the higher charge of culpable homicide was made out against Khan and referred it to the sessions court. The high-profile case dates back to September 28, 2002 when a SUV Toyota Land Cruiser allegedly driven by Khan ran over some pavement dwellers in Bandra West. The case has been lingering in judicial limbo for 12 years now and it’s high time for a verdict to be given soon.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2014.
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