Mumbai:
The trial in the 2002 hit-and-run case involving actor Salman Khan has been adjourned till August 21 as only seven original copies of the 63 statements are available with the police. A Mumbai court has directed the Bandra police to trace the documents by the next hearing.
The true copies of statements are available but the defence lawyer said that the original copies are required as true copies could have some interpolations that could affect the case.
Earlier the case was being tried in a magistrate's court in Bandra and the original statements were recorded there.
On June 24, one of the witnesses had not supported the prosecution's case, prompting the prosecution lawyer to ask the court to declare the witness hostile.
In May, three eyewitnesses had testified before the court and identified the actor. Mr Khan, 47, was present for the hearing held on May 6, during which one of the survivors claimed that the actor was so drunk on the night of the accident that he fell down, then got up and ran away from the accident site.
The witness, who was injured in the accident, had claimed that he saw Mr Khan getting out from the driver's side of the Toyota Land Cruiser whereas the actor's lawyers have argued for nearly a decade that he was not at the wheel.
One of the witnesses complained to the police that she had received a threatening call in connection to the case.
One person was killed and four others were injured when a car allegedly driven by the actor rammed into a bakery shop on September 28, 2002.
In December last year, a Mumbai court ordered a fresh trial for Mr Khan, who is accused now of culpable homicide in the hit-and-run case and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. He originally faced lesser charges of rash and negligent driving.