2002 hit-and-run case: Judgment dictation to continue till tomorrow

Justice A.R. Joshi, while reserving judgment on the appeal on Friday, had told the lawyers that he would need at least two days to dictate the order. On Monday the judge commenced reading out the order in open court. He recorded in detail what evidence the prosecution had placed before the court to prove that Salman was driving drunk and caused the accident in Bandra which resulted in one person’s death and injured four others. The judge took note of the fact that the complainant did not say anything about the actor being drunk at the time of the incident and this detail was added at a later stage.

The judge also recorded details about Salman’s visit to the JW Marriott hotel and Rain Bar, the evidence collected by police around this, and what the defence had said. To prove that the actor was driving the car, the prosecution has heavily relied on the statement of constable Ravindra Patil who was Salman’s police bodyguard and was present in the car when it met with the accident. He was the person who had filed the complaint in this matter but he died of tuberculosis in 2007.