By YKA Staff:
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, who has been fighting a court battle over charges of drinking and driving and then killing a man sleeping on a footpath by driving his car over him was exonerated on December 10.
The Bombay High Court cleared him of all charges and ruled that the prosecution was unable to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The High Court also refused to consider the testimony of the prime witness in the case, constable Ravindra Patil, who passed away a few years ago. The Court ruled that his testimony was not reliable as he had modified it too many times. Patil had deposed that Khan was driving the car when it careened off near a bakery in Mumbai in the early hours of 28 September 2002 and that he had asked the superstar to slow down. The Court also said that the prosecution had not been able to prove that Khan was driving the car while being drunk. Salman had taken the plea that it was his driver who was behind the wheels.
A Mumbai sessions court had earlier convicted him for the alleged offence although he was granted bail the very same day, leading to criticism from some sections of the public. The High Court, however, said that the sessions court had erred in its decision by basing its decision on purely circumstantial evidence.
Salman Khan, who has acted in several successful films in his career, was present in the High Court when the verdict was delivered. The TOI reported that upon hearing the verdict he broke into a sob and was later heard humming a tune.
The verdict was welcomed by his friends like Adnan Sami who congratulated him on Twitter.