Headlines
Salman's driver lying about role on accident night: Prosecution
Mumbai, April 6
The prosecution in the Salman
Khan hit-and-run case on Monday rejected the testimony of the Bollywood
actor's driver that he was driving the vehicle at the time of the
September 2002 accident, and termed him a "self-condemned liar" who
could face perjury charges.
Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said
Ashok Singh had lied under oath and was coached by the defence counsel
to lie in the court, while continuing the arguments in the hit-and-run
case which left one pavement dweller dead and four others injured.
Last
month, the driver's name cropped up for the first time when Salman
testified that he was not driving the vehicle at the time and named
Singh - who later confessed before Additional Sessions Judge D. W.
Deshpande.
Terming the timing of the driver's confession as
"suspicious", Gharat rejected it and called him a "self-condemned liar"
who could be liable for perjury for falsely owning up to the accident.
He
said there was no doubt that Salman was driving the vehicle that night
when it met with the accident outside American Express Bakery in Bandra
West suburb of Mumbai, close to the actor's seafront residence in Galaxy
Apartments.
"Salim Khan (father of Salman) asked him (Singh) to
own up and he owns up.. the conduct of the driver is unnatural," Gharat
argued.
At the time of the accident, Gharat said witnesses heard a
"big bang" and many had seen the actor stepping out of the right side
of the vehicle.
"All witnesses said that he and his friend Kamaal
Khan ran away from there after the accident," Gharat said, citing that
witness Francis had testified to this fact and this was never
challenged.
"At that time, the witness (Singh) was not present.
He is a liar. He has stepped forward for the accused now, for whatever
may be the reasons," he said.
He added Singh has testified that he went to Bandra Police station but was not arrested and asked to wait outside.
"He
told the court that he was not arrested, and later that morning, Salman
Khan was nabbed. He further said there was a huge crowd of media
persons outside when police came out with Salman and their photographs
were clicked. At that point with such a grand opportunity, whey did he
not tell the truth to media?" Gharat asked.
The prosecution has charged Salman with drunken driving and not possessing a valid licence, both of which he has denied.
Gharat
made a strong pitch for the court to accept the statement of the late
Ravindra Patil, the police bodyguard assigned to Salman, who was the
complainant in the case.
"The death of a witness does not come in
the way of evidence. He was examined by the court (metropolitan
magistrate's court, Bandra). He was also available for cross
examination, and had given a detailed account of the sequence of events
in his complaint," argued Gharat, citing supporting judgements on the
issue.
The arguments in the case will continue again on Tuesday.