Headlines
Salman hit-and-run case: Prosecution questions driver's claim
Mumbai, April 1
The prosecution in the Salman
Khan hit-and-run case made a fervent plea to the court on Wednesday to
reject the claim by the Bollywood actor's driver Ashok Singh that he was
driving the killer vehicle during the 2002 accident in which a pavement
dweller was killed.
Rejecting and disbelieving Salman's
submission that he was not driving the vehicle, and the subsequent
admission by his driver, public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat questioned the
presence of the fourth person in the car.
In the past 13 years,
the presence of only three people was known -- Salman, his friend and
singer Kamaal Khan, and police bodyguard, late Ravindra Patil, the
public prosecutor said.
"He (Ashok Singh) appears to have been
brought in now," Gharat told Additional Sessions Judge D.W. Deshpande,
during the resumption of the final arguments in the September 28, 2002
accident case which left one pavement dweller dead and four others
injured.
He pointed out that Salman revealed the details only
when the actor's statement was being recorded under section 313 of the
Code of Criminal Procedure.
"You never ever mentioned about the
fourth person. Can this piece of evidence be accepted," Gharat asked
defence lawyer Shrikant Shivade.
None of the witnesses examined
in the court had given this suggestion or confronted with the new piece
of evidence claimed by Salman, the prosecutor said.
Even after
recording the statement, when the court asked Salman whether he wanted
to examine himself, he had replied in the negative as he would have been
exposed in the cross-examination, Gharat continued.
He said that
since the beginning of the trial, Salman had accepted that the vehicle
was owned by him, it was established by the documentation and proved it
was in his possession at the relevant time.
But even at that
stage, he did not disclose that driver Ashok Singh was driving it at the
time of the accident, Gharat told the court.
Moreover,
questioning Ashok Singh's statement in which he spoke of a burst tyre
and losing control of the vehicle, Gharat argued that the Toyoto Land
Cruiser was a sophisticated, modern vehicle which would have given
indications of any problems to the driver.
Accordingly, the prosecutor contended that it was difficult to believe the driver's version on the accident.
In
a major development in the trial, driver Ashok Singh earlier told
Sessions Judge D.W. Deshpande that he was at the wheel of the SUV which
was not speeding when its tyre burst, but the car dragged to the left
and he lost control.
Although he tried hard to apply the brakes,
the vehicle had already climbed the stairs of the American Express
Bakery, resulting in the accident.
The arguments will now resume on April 6.Mumbai, April 1
The prosecution in Salman
Khan's hit-and-run case here on Wednesday made a fervent plea before the
court to reject the claim of the Bollywood actor's driver that he was
driving the killer vehicle when it left one pavement dweller dead in
2002.
Resuming the final arguments in the ongoing re-trial of
Salman Khan in the case, public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat told
Additional Sessions Judge D.W. Deshpande that in 13 years, the presence
of a fourth person in the vehicle at the time of the accident on
September 28, 2002 never came up.
Moreover, questioning Salman
Khan's driver Ashok Singh's statements last Monday, in which he spoke of
a burst tyre and losing control over the vehicle, Gharat argued that
the Toyota Land Cruiser is a sophisticated, modern vehicle which would
have indicated about any problem to the driver.
Accordingly, the
prosecutor contended that it was difficult to believe the driver's
version on the accident and it must be rejected by the court.
In a
major development in the accident trial, driver Singh told Sessions
Judge Deshpande last Monday that he was at the wheel of the SUV, which
was not speeding, when its tyre burst, the car moved to the left side
and he lost control.
Although he tried hard to apply the brakes,
the vehicle had already climbed the steps of the American Express
Bakery, resulting in the death of a sleeping pavement dweller and
injuring four others, Singh told the court.
After Gharat's
arguments are completed, the defence (Salman Khan's) lawyer Shrikant
Shivade will start his arguments in the case.