Mumbai : The Mumbai Sessions Court Additional Sessions Judge D. W. Deshpande will pronounce on May 6 verdict in the 13-year-old hit and run case involving actor Salman Khan, in which one person was killed and four were injured.
The announcement was made here on Tuesday, a day after the prosecution, led by special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat, and the defence team led by Shrikant Shivade completed their arguments in the case. The judge has asked Salman to be present in the court on the day of the verdict. The actor, however, was not present in the court on Tuesday when the judge announced the date of the verdict.
The 49-year-old actor is accused of ramming his SUV into a roadside bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one person and injuring four others who were sleeping outside. The prosecution has alleged that he was drunk and was driving without a licence, a charge denied by Khan.
A court had in 2013 framed charges in a fresh trial against Khan for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, for which he may face a jail term of up to 10 years, if convicted.
While the prosecution has claimed that Khan was behind the wheel of the SUV at the time of the accident, the actor has refuted the allegation saying his driver Ashok Singh was in the driver’s seat.
The defence counsel has claimed that the post-mortem report of the deceased suggested he had crushing injuries and these had been caused when a crane dropped the SUV on the victims.
