Hit-and-run case: Court says it can't ask Salman Khan to produce driving licence

Mumbai A sessions court today rejected an application filed by the prosecution in the 2002 hitandrun case involving actor Salman Khan as it ruled that an accused cannot be forced to produce any document at the fag end of the trialThe application is not maintainable under the provisions of Indian Evidence Act as the court cannot force the accused to produce the driving licence pronounced Judge DW Deshpande orally in the operative part of the orderThe accused can produce the licence at an appropriate stage if he so desires said the judge adding that at this stage the evidence is nearly over and hence the court cannot give a direction for producing the document The court had heard the arguments of both the sides on February 27 and reserved its order until todaySalman KhanSpecial Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat argued that Khan did not possess a licence when his car ran over people sleeping on a pavement in suburban Bandra on September 28 2002 killing one person and injuring four He Khan obtained a driving licence only in 2004 as per the record available with Regional Transport Office said the prosecutionThe actor has denied that he was driving the car at the time of the incident He has also disputed the RTO record His lawyer Srikant Shivade opposed the prosecutions application today saying it was not maintainableKhans lawyer said the prosecutions application violated the fundamental right against exploitation enshrined in the Constitution as it had asked the accused to produce documents incriminating him He argued that the prosecution should prove its case that Khan was not holding a driving licence without asking him to produce itA Regional Transport Officer had earlier deposed in the court saying that Khan did not possess a driving licence when his car met with an accident in 2002 He also produced office records to show that Khan had obtained licence only in 2004 two years after the incidentEarlier the trial was conducted by a magistrate but when the aggravated charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was added the case was transferred to a sessions court and a fresh trial is being heldMeanwhile the court has put off till March 7 the hearing of arguments by Salmans lawyer on another application filed by the prosecution seeking to rely upon evidence of two crucial witnesses recorded by a magistrateAs the trial is being conducted afresh in the sessions court the prosecution wants to bring on record the evidence of the two witnesses Dr Sanap and Ravindra Patil The evidence includes their deposition as well as the cross examination by the defence before the magistrateDr Sanap had conducted the postmortem of the person who died in the mishap He has settled in the USA after retirement and is not available to the prosecution to depose in the court Ravindra Patil the police bodyguard of Khan had lodged a complaint in this case soon after the mishapPatil who passed away during the trial had given a statement to the magistrate earlier that he had warned Khan not to drive in a rash or negligent manner or else he wouldmeet with an accident He had also alleged that the actor was under the influenceof liquor a charge denied by SalmanKhans lawyer Shivade argued that prejudice would be caused to his client if the court allows Patils statement recorded earlier by a magistrate to come on record in the de novo fresh trial being conducted now However prosecutor Pradeep Gharat argued that no prejudice would be caused to Khan if the evidence tendered by Patil was taken on record by the courtGharat said the accused can take a defence at the time of final arguments and can also confront the investigating officer in crossexamination with regard to Patils evidence The prosecutor cited some judgements to support his argument that the statements of Patil and Dr Sanap can be taken on recordOn September 28 2002 the actors car had rammed into a bakery in suburban Bandra and ran over people sleeping on the pavement outside killing one person and injuring four othersThe 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 the 49yearold actor and referred the case to the sessions courtThe charge of culpable homicide attracts a 10year sentence while the earlier charge of causing death by negligence entails imprisonment of up to two years