Mumbai : The prosecution in the 2002 hit-and-run case on Monday opposed in the Bombay High Court Salman Khan’s application that his singer-friend Kamaal Khan, who was in the actor’s car at the time of the accident, should be examined.
Government pleader SS Shinde filed a written reply opposing Salman’s application. Justice AR Joshi would hear both the sides on the issue on Tuesday.
The prosecution’s story is that Salman, Kamaal Khan and police constable Ravindra Patil (Salman’s bodyguard) were in the car on the night of September 28, 2002. Salman’s lawyer Amit Desai, however, claimed that Salman’s family drivers also accompanied them. Altaf was in the vehicle from Galaxy Apartments (Salman’s residence) to the JW Marriott Hotel.
At the hotel, another driver, Ashok Singh, took over and Singh was driving when the car had rammed into a bakery, killing one person and injuring four.
“It is not that we have not tried to get in touch with Kamaal Khan and examine him as a prosecution witness, but we could not find him….besides, the defence could also have examined him as a defence witness if they wanted to,” Shinde told reporters.
The court’s ruling on whether Kamaal Khan should be examined at this stage would be important in deciding the course of the appeal, Shinde said. Desai had argued that Kamaal Khan was with Salman for the entire evening and he can throw light on the incident better than anyone else but the prosecution never examined him.
But Shinde had said during the arguements that after obtaining Mumbai court’s permission to leave the country, Kamaal, a UK national, “vanished”.
Shinde also argued that contrary to the defence’s claim, Ravindra Patil’s statement was admissible under section 33 of Indian Evidence Act. Patil died of tuberculosis during the trial.
