Mumbai : The prosecution on Wednesday rejected actor Salman Khan’s defence that it was his driver Ashok Singh who was driving his vehicle at the time of the 2002 mishap, saying it appears to be a “brought up” witness whose contention was belated and introduced at the fag-end of the trial.
Khan had submitted for the first time on Monday that Singh was at the wheel and not him, while giving his statement after evidence was closed in the case, said special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat while making final arguments in the Sessions Court.
Khan has been charged with killing one person and injuring four others by ramming his vehicle into a bakery shop in suburban Bandra in the wee hours of September 28, 2002.
In his arguments, Gharat said none of the witnesses examined in the court was given this suggestion or confronted with this new piece of evidence claimed by Khan. Gharat argued that Khan had not mentioned about his driver Ashok Singh at any stage of the trial earlier and had disclosed this only when his statement was being recorded.
At that time, the actor was also asked by the judge if he wished to examine himself. To this, he had replied in the negative. “If he (Khan) had chosen to examine himself he would have been exposed in cross-examination, Gharat further argued.
The accused had in the beginning of the trial accepted that the vehicle was owned by him and was in his possession when the mishap occurred. Even at that stage he did not disclose that his driver Ashok Singh was driving the car at the relevant time, said Gharat.
Singh had told the sessions court last month that it was him behind the wheel, and not the actor, at the time of the accident. The prosecution has alleged that Khan did not have a driving licence and was under the influence of liquor at the time of the accident. Khan had denied both charges.
The prosecutor said police constable Ravindra Ptil, a complainant in the case and also bodyguard of Khan, had said in his statement that there were three occupants in the car — he (himself), accused Salman and his friend Kamaal. Even Patil had not mentioned the fourth person — Ashok Singh –as claimed by the actor, the prosecutor said.
He said the evidence of Patil, who had died during the trial, should be accepted in toto. Referring to Khan’s claim that Patil was dozing off when the mishap occurred, the prosecutor asked, “How can that be so? He was on night duty on that day and was accompanying the actor. He cannot sleep when he is on duty.”
The prosecution also assailed the defence theory that the mishap had occurred due to a mechanical fault in Khan’s Land Cruiser Lexus and also because of a tyre burst. “That is not possible because the car is a high end sport utility vehicle and has a display panel indicator which gives alerts if any defects crop up. The car is a fully automatic power-loaded one which will not take it away from the road in case of mechanical failure,” said the prosecutor.
Assuming that there was a mechanical fault in the car and the accused while driving it had not seen the display panel indicator for defects which may have crept in, then his act amounts to rash and negligence which is an offence under Motor Vehicles act, Gharat argued. The arguments were inconclusive and would continue on April 6. — PTI
