Salman Khan Hit And Run Case: Witnesses Fail To Appear

The first three witnesses that had to be examined by the prosecution in regards to the hit and run case involving Salman Khan failed to appear in the sessions court on March 26, 2014, due to which the trial could not begin. 

One of the witness, is the owner of a laundry in suburban Bandra, where Salman Khan had run over his vehicle on people sleeping on the footpath, while the other two are panch witnesses. 

Prosecutor Jagannath Kenjalkar, informed the court that the laundry owner could not appear as he had been paralysed, one of the panch witnesses was not traceable while the other had gone to Bangalore. 

The judge D. W. Deshpande adjourned the matter and the next hearing is scheduled for April 08, 2014, when the prosecution would examine another set of witnesses, who were injured in the mishap. 

Salman Khan is facing the charge of running over his Toyota Land Cruiser on a group of persons sleeping on a footpath outside a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one and injuring four others. 

Salman Khan also did not come to the court as he has secured permanent exemption from appearance. His lawyer Srikant Shivade was, however, present during the proceedings. 

Although the prosecution has given a list of sixty four witnesses, it would not examine all of them, according to the public prosecutor. The prosecution had earlier submitted documents such as death certificate (of the person who was killed in the mishap) and injury certificates (of those who were injured in this case. 

The court had admitted these documents after Salman Khan‘s lawyer submitted his say on admissibility of the documents. 

The case, dragging on for over a decade, had taken a twist earlier this year when the magistrate, after examining seventeen witnesses, held that the charge of culpable homicide was made out against Salman Khan and referred the matter to a sessions court, as cases under this offence are tried by a higher court.