MUMBAI // The Bombay High Court on Thursday acquitted Bollywood megastar Salman Khan of all charges in a hit-and-run accident that happened 13 years ago.
On Wednesday, December 9, the court had ruled that there was no evidence to prove that Khan was drunk or driving the ill-fated Toyota Land Cruiser on September 28, 2002, when it met with an accident, killing a homeless person and injuring four others.
Judge A R Joshi, who announced Thursday’s verdict, said the “prosecution failed to establish the charges (against Salman) on all counts”.
The 50-year-old actor was present in court when the verdict was announced, a result of Khan’s appeal challenging his conviction and five-year sentence by the Sessions Court on May 6.
The court questioned the credibility of Khan’s bodyguard Ravindra Patil, a key prosecution witness, who had said that the actor was driving drunk and had repeatedly ignored his warnings. The judge noted that Patil was the only person to say that Khan was behind the wheel.
“If the witness is partly reliable, then corroboration is required. Ravindra Patil cannot be considered as a wholly reliable witness,” the court said.
In his defence, Khan’s lawyers had argued that his driver Ashok Singh was behind the wheels.
Fans outside the star’s Mumbai home are already celebrating. “He is a very good human being, good that he got acquitted,” a male fan told Indian news agency ANI.
artslife@thenational.ae
