Ahead of delivering its verdict in the 2002 hit-and-run case involving Salman Khan on May 6, a Mumbai court will decide on the same day a perjury plea seeking action against the police for its failure to examine eyewitness Kamal Khan, a singer-friend who was sitting in the car with the actor at the time of mishap.
Two days after he fixed May 6 as the date for delivering the verdict in the hit-and run case involving Salman, Additional Sessions Judge DW Deshpande said that he would decide on perjury application filed by social activist Santosh Daundkar on May 6. In his plea, Daundkar sought action against the police for not examining the eyewitness Kamal Khan, who was in the car along with the actor and his police bodyguard Ravindra Patil at the time of mishap on the intervening night of September 27-28, 2002.
The Prosecution’s version is that three persons were in the car – Salman himself, who was driving, Kamal Khan, who was sitting in the rear seat and police constable Ravindra Patil, the bodyguard attached to the actor, who was sitting on the left seat at the front. However, the defence lawyer’s version is there were four people in the car. While Salman was sitting on the front left seat, Patil and Kamal Khan occupied the left and right seats at the rear, respectively and it was the actor’s driver Ashok Singh, who was behind the wheels.
In an application filed on behalf of Daundkar, lawyer Abha Singh charged that by not examining witness Kamal Khan, the police had tried to cover an important piece of evidence which might have thrown light on who was driving the car at the relevant time. On his part, Judge Deshpande asked Singh to submit her written arguments by Friday.
“Under section 344 of CrPc, if the court finds that perjury has been made out, it can issue show cause notices to the concerned parties and hear them before passing orders. In the alternative, the court may also dismiss the application if perjury is not proved,” Singh said. She claimed that Kamal Khan had given a statement to police on October 4, 2002, that Salman Khan and his bodyguard Ravindra Patil were in the front and he was sitting behind.
Talking to media persons outside the court, Singh said: “However, there is no mention of Salman’s driver Ashok Singh in his statement. Significantly, the actor has taken a plea in the court that his driver Ashok Singh was driving the car and not he when the mishap occurred. Even Singh testified as a defence witness that he was driving the car at the relevant time. I am going to submit a copy of this statement of Kaamal Khan to the court tomorrow along with my written submissions”.
“There are two eyewitnesses in the case -- Kaamal Khan and Ravindra Patil. While Patil passed away during the course of original trial, Kamal Khan has not been examined by the police”. Singh also claimed she had in her possession a list of witnesses prepared by the Prosecution. "In all 64 witnesses were to be examined, but 37 were dropped and only 27 persons were brought before the court to tender evidence. Kamal Khan was among the witnesses who was dropped from the list of Prosecution witnesses,” Singh said.
Singh recalled that Kamaal Khan had initially turned hostile to the Prosecution and did not appear in the case. “later, a non—bailable warrant was issued to him by a Magistrate and he was arrested and released on a personal bond of Rs 5,000,” she said. Producing a copy of the Magistrate’s order, the lawyer noted that the singer had also given an undertaking to the court assuring that he would attend the court whenever required.
“However, the Prosecution and police dropped his (Kamal Khan’s) name from the list of witnesses. We want to know as to why such a key witness was not examined during the course of trial. This only shows an unholy nexus between police and the accused to fix the trial,” Singh alleged. The perjury application filed by Singh, on behalf of Daundkar, had earlier not been entertained by the trial court. The aggrieved applicant then moved the Bombay High Court, which directed the Sessions Court to hear it and decide.
In his re-trial in the hit-and-run case, Salman was tried for an aggravated charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder (section 304 part -II of IPC) invoked against him midway through the earlier trial on December 5, 2013. Fresh charges were framed against the actor in the court of judge U B Hejib on July 24 last year. If convicted for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, the actor may face an imprisonment for a maximum period of 10 years.
The Prosecution’s case is that Salman ---allegedly in a drunken state --- had on the intervening night of September 27-28, 2002, rammed his Toyota land Cruiser lexus into the American Express Bakery and laundry at Bandra (west) in north-west Mumbai, killing one person and injuring four others.