File Photo: Bollywood Actor Salman Khan
A witness in the 2002 hit-and-run case involving actor Salman Khan failed to identify car parts in the photographs shown to him by the defence lawyers during cross-examination.
Motor vehicles inspector RS Kesarkar, who had inspected the damaged car after the accident in 2002, was cross-examined for the entire day by Salman's lawyer Srikant Shivde.
One person was killed and four others were injured when a car, allegedly driven by the actor, rammed into a bakery in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on September 28, 2002. For years, the actor's lawyers have argued that Salman was not driving the car. If convicted on charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, Salman could face a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
The actor's lawyers said that it was high time to have experts who could examine electronic faults that can cause accidents rather than experts who can identify only mechanical faults.
The prosecution has put in an application to re-examine the witness and the case will now be heard on January 8.
During the cross-examination, the witness also told the court that he did not find out the reason as to why the air bags did not deploy after the accident.
On December 3, chemical analysis expert Bala Shankar, who was attached to a forensic sciences laboratory, testified in court that he found traces of alcohol in the blood sample he was asked to analyse after the hit-and-run incident. He told the court that he had found 62 mg of ethyl alcohol in the blood sample of 100 ml. He also said that 30 mg of ethyl alcohol is the amount normally found but can increase to 45 mg because of medical treatment.
The trial in the 12-year-old case is being conducted in a Mumbai sessions court and Salman has been charged for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Earlier it was being tried in a magistrate's court where the actor was on trial for a lesser charge.