Indian top court issues notice to Salman Khan in hit-and-run case

Earlier, Bombay High Cour acquitted the Bollywood actor in a 2002 hit-and-run case

The Indian Supreme Court issued on Friday a notice to Bollywood actor Salman Khan on the Maharashtra government's petition challenging Bombay High Court's (BHC) verdict to acquit him in a 2002 hit-and-run case.

The BHC in December last year cleared Khan of killing a homeless man in a hit-and-run crash 13 years ago, acquitting him of all charges after he appealed his conviction.



The Indian court said a lower court had erred in finding the 49-year-old guilty of culpable homicide and other charges after a closely watched trial in May when he was sentenced to five years in prison.

While issuing the notice, an apex court bench told the actor that "it would be much better if he gets acquittal from this court as it will save him from all the repercussions."

Meanwhile Khan's counsel Kapil Sibal contended that the court had no other evidence to convict the superstar as the conviction was based on the testimony of one person.

However, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi argued that there were several other people other than the eye witness who saw Khan in the driver's seat.



However, attorney general Mukul Rohatgi that besides the sole witness being pointed to by Sibal, there were scores of other witnesses at the accident spot who saw Salman Khan in the driver's seat of the vehicle that ran over a group of people sleeping on a pavement, killing one of them.

The Bollywood actor's trial began in 2014 after a series of court hearings and lengthy legal hold-ups. His defence team maintained throughout that the actor’s driver was to blame for the accident. They claimed Khan had been drinking water and had climbed out of the car through the driver’s side after the accident as the passenger door had been damaged.

This article originally appeared on Times of India.