Court rejects prosecution plea asking Salman Khan to produce driving licence in hit-and-run case

Mumbai: In the recent development of the on-going hit-and-run case of Bollywood actor Salman Khan, a sessions court in Mumbai rejected the prosecution's plea asking the actor to produce his driving licence.

At the actor’s last court hearing the prosecution filed an application seeking a direction for him to produce his driving license. Salman’s lawyer opposed the application.

The Special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said Khan possessed no licence when his car ran over people sleeping on the pavement in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one person and injuring four. He obtained a driving licence only in 2004, as per the record available with Regional Transport Office, said the prosecution.

The actor has denied that he was driving the car at the time. He has also disputed the RTO record. His lawyer, Srikant Shivade, opposed the prosecution's application today, saying it was not maintainable under the Motor Vehicles Act.

On September 28, 2002, the actor's car rammed into a bakery in suburban Bandra, killing one person and injuring four others sleeping outside. The case, dragging on for over a decade, took a twist when a city Magistrate, after examining 17 witnesses, held that the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was made out against 49-year-old actor, and referred the case to the sessions court.

The charge of culpable homicide attracts a 10-year sentence. Earlier the charge against Salman was causing death by negligence, which entails imprisonment of up to two years.