JUNE 25- Actor Sanjay Dutt went to jail for three years, his friend Salman Khan could go for more. A Mumbai sessions court has ruled that the actor who was involved in a hit-and-run accident in 2002 has upheld a Bandra magistrate’s order that the actor should be charged under culpable homicide not amounting to murder, section 304, part II of the IPC.
If Salman is tried and gets convicted under this section then the actor could face ten years in jail.
In an almost five hour long order, Sessions Court Judge U B Hejib agreed with the Bandra Magistrate’s earlier order and said that Salman would have to face culpable homicide as the actor had been warned earlier by his police bodyguard, Ravindra Patil who was assigned to guard him not to drive rashly while he was drunk as it could lead to an accident.
In fact Judge Hejib relied heavily on the statements of Patil, who has died. However his statement still has a lot of weight as the police recorded his statement under section 164 of the CRPC before a magistrate
The court has also relied on the chemical analyser’s report that showed the blood alcohol level of Salman was way above the maximum permissible limit and the fact that the actor should have known that people sleep in the pavements outside in the night.
The public prosecutor S Erande further argued that the actor not only ignored Patil’s entreaties to him but also continued to drive rashly and at a great speed. The prosecutor submitted that Khan’s blood alcohol sample showed 60 mg of alcohol which was beyond the permissible limit. Erande said that Salman should face the culpable homicide charge as he knew that his rash driving after consuming drinks could cause an accident. He added that the actor was familiar with the topography of the area as he lived in the same vicinity and he would know that there were people sleeping on footpaths in the area and yet he continued to drive the vehicle rashly argued Erande.
The Bandra magistrate had on January 31 accepted the public prosecutor’s plea that the actor should be tried for culpable homicide as he drove the vehicle in spite of being repeatedly warned by his police body guard.
Since the offence was a much more serious it would be then tried at the sessions court, the actor’s lawyer however decided to appeal the Bandra Magistrate’s ruling. Salman’s laywer Ashok Mundargi approached the sessions court where he argued that the magistrate’s order be squashed as it was ‘erroneous, bad in law and contrary to evidence on record,’.
According to Mundargi, the actor had neither the intention (to kill) nor the knowledge that his rash and negligent driving could kill or injure others.
It is likely that the actor’s lawyers will appeal the session courts ruling.
The case pertains to September 28,2002 when the actor who was driving a Land Cruiser allegedly ran over a group of people who were sleeping outside a bakery in suburban Bandra in the wee hours. The group of people were employees of a local bakery who used to sleep out in the open every day. In the accident one person died on the spot and four others were injured. The actor ran away from the scene of the crime fearing being beaten up by locals and caught by the police. He was however arrested a few hours later. His body guard Ravindra Patil whose first statement did not make any mention about his warning to Salman asking him not to drive, subsequently made a second statement that the actor had repeatedly ignored warnings to him to not drive rashly. Ravindra Patil however later on become hostile before absconding, he eventually died of tuberculosis.
Advocate Abha Singh who was present in the court said the trial will start again, in the sessions court as the actor would be tried under these fresh charges. Singh also said that the trial in sessions court would not take such a long time as it did in the magistrate’s court.
The sessions court trial would start on April 19, as the actor’s advocate informed the court that the actor is shooting abroad till April 17.
