2002 hit-and-run case: Salman Khan falsely implicated by a tutored witness, says lawyer

Mumbai: A crucial eye-witness produced by the prosecution in the 2002 hit-and-run case involving Salman Khan implicated him falsely with a tutored testimony, the Bollywood actor's lawyer on Friday argued before the Bombay High Court.

Khan was sentenced to five years in prison by the sessions court in May. He is accused of running over his car on people sleeping outside a shop in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one and injuring four.

The actor, on bail, has filed appeal in the High Court.

Khan's lawyer Amit Desai today said Muslim Shaikh, who was among the injured, told the magistrate in 2006 (during the first trial) that he had not seen anyone getting down from the car after the accident.

But he told the sessions court during the fresh trial in 2014 that he saw Salman Khan getting down, Desai said.

"It appears that with age, memory becomes sharper," the lawyer quipped.

The case was heard afresh by the sessions court after the charge against Khan was upgraded to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Alleging that the witness was tutored by the prosecution, Desai said "why do you need to tutor a witness when there are eyewitnesses who are alive and available and not examined?" referring to the singer Kamaal Khan who was in the car with Khan at the time and was never examined.

"A key question still remains to be answered...Who was driving the car," Desai added.

Justice AR Joshi asked the defence and also prosecutor SS Shinde to prepare a list of witnesses in a tabular form and their respective statements, posting the next hearing to August 25.