Salman Khan was convicted in May in connection with the death of a man who was run over while sleeping on the pavement in a Mumbai suburb, according to the BBC.
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“On the basis of evidence submitted by the prosecution, Salman can not be convicted”, a BHC judge said while announcing the verdict.
Justice Joshi said after seeking Salman’s presence in court at the time of pronouncing the verdict that doubt arises over involvement of appellant on charges.
On May 6, 2015 a Mumbai Sessions Court sentenced him to five years in prison, post which Khan filed an appeal in the High Court.
“So far as the client is concerned, it’s a big relief after 13 years of journey that he has gone through”, Amit Desai, Salman’ lawyer told reporters here.
The actor, who wore a blue-white check shirt, arrived in the court at 1.30 PM even as the police made a tight bandobast around the high court premises.
However, Khan was granted bail by the Bombay High Court.
The 49-year-old actor took to Twitter to thank his family, friends and fans for their support.
The court said on Thursday the prosecution failed to prove the actor was dunk on the night of the accident.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said the government will decide on whether to appeal against the judgement after going through the court’s order.
Holding that the evidence was “weak”, Justice Joshi dwelt upon the shortcomings in the prosecution’s case, including not recording evidence of important witnesses and also omissions and contradictions in the evidence of injured witnesses.
Hearing this, Khan lowered his head, sighed, and then looked up again at the judge from the witness box.
Calling Patil an unreliable witness, the judge observed that it was hard to believe that the tyre burst due to the impact during the crash.
The prosecution is planning to challenge with verdict at the supreme court.
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Khan’s defense team has insisted that the family’s driver Ashok Singh was behind the wheel at the time of the incident. Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat, who led the prosecution in the case in the trial court, termed the HC verdict as “shocking”, while leading criminal lawyer Abha Singh said “the faith of common man in the judicial system has been shaken”.
