Salman Khan hit-and-run case: Bombay High Court says prime witness 'wholly unreliable'

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday ruled that the evidence of the prime witness in the Salman Khan hit-and-run case was “wholly unreliable”, reported The Indian Express. While dictating the verdict in the appeal filed by the actor against the five-year sentence for culpable homicide awarded to him by a Mumbai sessions court in May, Justice AR Joshi observed that Ravindra Patil's statements were unconvincing because he had made modifications to them later. Patil was a former police bodyguard of Khan. He died in 2007 at the age of 30 to tuberculosis.

In the FIR Patil had lodged on September 28, 2002, hours after the mishap had occurred, he had not mentioned whether it was Khan who had been driving the car under the influence of liquor. However, on October 1, 2002, after a report of the actor’s blood test was produced, Patil had testified before a magistrate stating that on the day of the incident, he had advised the actor to not consume drinks, but he had not heeded to his warnings.

On September 28, 2002, the actor’s car had driven into a bakery shop in the Mumbai suburb of Bandra. The collision had left one person dead and four others injured.