Accepting the Prosecution’s evidence in the 2002 hit-and-run case, the trial court has entirely discarded the claim by Bollywood actor Salman Khan and the subsequent corroborating testimony of his family driver Ashok Singh that it was the latter and not he, who was behind the wheels at the time of mishap.
Endorsing the evidence adduced by the Prosecution that it was Salman who was driving the vehicle, Sessions Judge DW Deshpande observed in his 240-page verdict: “It is established beyond reasonable doubt that the accused was driving the vehicle”.
“The most important and vital aspect of the case is who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident. Considering the evidence, I conclude that it was accused Salman Khan who was driving the vehicle. Evidence of witnesses corroborate on material particularities,” the Judge noted in his verdict that he delivered on Wednesday.
Describing the actor’s family driver Ashok Singh as a “brought up” witness and dismissing his claim that it was he and not the actor who was behind the wheels at the time of mishap, Judge Deshpande observed, “While concluding I find that it is established beyond reasonable doubt that the accused [Salman Khan] was driving the vehicle at the time of the incident. Ashok Singh is a brought up witness who had come to help the accused on the instruction of Salim Khan, father of the accused”.
“If Ashok Singh was driving the car at that time and not Salman, then soon after the accident, he (Singh) would have known that one person had died and four others injured.”
The court held that the defence’s claim that Ashok Singh was driving “is not probable, agreeable and agreeable to the conscience of a common prudent man.”