Mumbai: Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s acquittal in the 2002 hit-and-run case on Thursday yet again sets an example of the loopholes in the Indian judiciary system that gives a special privilege to those deprived.
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Legal experts today described the Bombay High Court verdict acquitting Bollywood superstar Salman Khan in the hit-and-run case as shocking and said “the faith of common man in the judicial system has been shaken”.
A lower court held Khan prima facie guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and rejected his plea to drop the charge before framing charges against him.
On the other side, Salman Khan’s family driver as well as singer-friend Kamaal Khan, Ashok Singh admitted that, it was he, who drove the vehicle that night, but the prosecution dismissed his confession as 13 years too late.
Delivering the much-awaited verdict, Justice A.R. Joshi said that the actor “cannot be convicted” on the basis of the evidence produced by the prosecution in the 13-year-old case and trial.
2015 is Salman Khan’s year.
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. Sessions court rejected Salman’s plea and asked the Magistrate Court to frame charges in May.
Popular actor Anupam Kher congratulated him with a message on Twitter, which says, “So happy that @BeingSalmanKhan is acquitted of all charges”.
But the Bombay High Court ruled that evidence of the injured is not devoid of discrepancies and the prosecution failed to prove truthfulness of the witness who claimed Salman Khan was drunk.
After hearing the verdict, Salman broke down and was seen wiping his tears.
The vehicle rammed into a group of people sleeping on a city sidewalk, killing one and injuring four. Investigation was conducted in a faulty manner with scant regard to procedure,”Joshi said”.
The court has also ordered the police to handover the passport to Salman following the verdict.
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Mr Patil died from tuberculosis in 2007.
