Published On : Fri, Mar 27th, 2015

Salman records his statement – says in the hit and run case of 2002 he was neither driving nor was he drunk

Advertisement

salman-khan_640x480_41426259751Bollywood heart throb Salman Khan, was forced to make a personal appearance in a Mumbai Sessions Court today in the 2002 hit-and-run case by Justice Deshpande, who is hearing the case. Salman told the court that neither was he driving the car, nor was he drunk, when the accident took place.

The actor told the court that his driver Ashok Singh was driving the car at the time of mishap. He also said that he had not consumed liquor on the day of the accident. He clarified that after the accident he got down from the right side of the car – the driver’s side – since the left side was jammed after the crash.

Earlier, Salman had moved an application to ban the media during the recording of his statement but it was rejected.

Judge D. W. Deshpande rejected the plea but directed the media to report only after the recording of Salman’s entire statement is completed. He also directed the media to not give any opinions  in the matter, or debating on merits and demerits of the case. They should  stick to plain reporting of the actual proceedings before the court they were told.

Earlier, Salman reached the Mumbai Sessions Court at 11 a.m. to record his statement on the sequence of events pertaining to the case, which left one dead and four injured after his rashly driven vehicle crashed into them.

The actor was ordered to personally appear before Deshpande to record his statement under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code, considered a crucial stage in the retrial of the case before the final arguments begin.

The development on Friday follows the conclusion of arguments by prosecutor Pradeep Gharat earlier this week.

Salman also proclaimed that he had not consumed liquor that day and the report of his ‘blood analysis’ was wrong since it was not done by On Wednesday,  Justice Deshpande had rejected a plea by Salman’s lawyer Shrikant Shivade seeking adjournment of Salman’s  recording  of his statement by three weeks as the actor is also required to appear before a Jodhpur court in a case relating to possessing arms and shooting an endangered blackbuck.an expert.

It may be recalled that at almost break of dawn   of September 28, 2002, Salman’s white Toyota Land Cruiser had rammed into the American Express Bakery in suburban Bandra, close to his sea-front home in Galaxy Apartments. One pavement dweller sleeping outside the bakery was killed and four others were injured, leading to Salman’s arrest by the Bandra Police later that morning since he had fled from the scene immediately after the accident.

The actor is facing charges of IPC Sec. 304(II) – which attracts a 10-year jail sentence, Sec. 279, Sec. 337, Sec. 338, Sec. 427, and under Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949.