A city sessions court on Thursday ordered a fresh trial in the much-discussed 2002 hit-and-run case involving Salman Khan, giving an opportunity to the actor to re-examine the witnesses in the context of an aggravated charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder invoked against him midway through the earlier trial.
Accepting the actor’s plea that the evidence adduced earlier before a magistrate be discarded as he was now facing a more serious charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, Judge DW Deshpande ruled that the trial would be held de novo (fresh) and directed the prosecution to produce a list of witnesses and documents to be adduced by it as evidence.
Holding that the evidence adduced before the Magistrate would not be considered and that all witnesses who had appeared earlier would both be examined and cross-examined afresh in the de-novo trial, the judge adjourned the matter to December 23 to enable the prosecution to produce a list of witnesses and documents.
Observing that considerable time had already been spent on the conduct of trial earlier, the judge said the fresh trial against the actor would be fast-tracked.
On December 23 when the sessions court hears the case next, the Judge will fix the date for the trial to begin.
With the Sessions Judge ordering a fresh trial that provides an opportunity to the defence lawyer to re-examine witnesses in the context of the enhanced charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder which attracts a 10-year sentence, the case has taken a turn, especially from the point of the view of the accused actor.
For, Salman’s lawyers had argued in the earlier proceedings that Magistrate Vasant Patil had “failed to appreciate” that he had neither intention (to kill anyone) nor had the knowledge of the fact that the alleged act of driving rashly and negligently would lead to the death of a person.
In the September 28, 2002 hit-and-run incident, Salman — allegedly in a drunken state — drove his land Cruiser recklessly near his Bandra residence, killing a pavement dweller and injuring four others, who were asleep on the same pavement.
Forty-eight-year-old Salman, against whom fresh charges were framed in the court of Judge UB Hejib on July 24 this, will now stand a fresh trial under Section 304 (II) of Indian Penal code — a more severe charge than the one of causing death by negligence (Section 304-A of IPC) that he was tried for earlier — and other charges, including the ones framed against him under Section 279 of IPC (rash driving) and the relevant provisions of Motor Vehicles Act and Bombay Prohibition Act.
In the earlier trial held in a city magistrate’s court, Salman had been tried for causing death by negligence under Section 304 (I) of IPC and for other offences including rash driving, causing hurt, causing grievous injury by an act endangering life or personal safety of others) and driving in a drunken state.
Midway through the trial of the actor under Section 304-A of IPC (causing death by negligence), the Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate had on January 31, 2013 allowed the Prosecution to revive the charge of “culpable homicide not amounting to murder” for allegedly killing a pavement dweller and injuring four others in the hit-and-run case. Through his January 31 order, the Bandra Magistrate committed the case to the city sessions court for a fresh trial.
The original trial had begun in the Magistrate’s court in 2006. During the trial, the prosecution had in all examined 17 witnesses. However, two witnesses, Ravindra Patil, the actor’s former police bodyguard, and Ramasray Pandey, turned hostile, during the trial. In fact, Patil died of acute bilateral tuberculosis, at a city civic TB hospital on October 3, 2007.