Maharashtra to challenge Khan’s acquittal in Supreme Court

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday informed the Bombay High Court that it has decided to challenge in the Supreme Court the verdict acquitting him of all charges in the 2002 hit-and-run case. The government will file Special Leave Petition(SLP) in the Supreme Court to appeal against the acquittal of Salman by Justice A R Joshi, who totally reversed the trial court judgement that sentenced the actor to five years’ imprisonment. 

The Law and Judiciary department had accorded sanction to the prosecution to file SLP in the Supreme Court, Government Pleader Abhinandan Vagyani told a bench of Justices Abhay Oka and Gautam Patel. 

The SLP would be filed in due course, Vagyani said during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by senior journalist Nikhil Wagle seeking compensation from Salman Khan for victims of the 2002 hitand-run mishap. Justice A R Joshi, on December 10, had acquitted Salman of all the charges on the ground that the prosecution had failed to prove that the actor was driving the car under the influence of liquor. 

On May 6, a sessions court had sentenced the actor to five years jail after it held him guilty of offences including culpable homicide not amount to murder According to the prosecution’s case, on September 28, 2002, Salman had rammed his car into a bakery in suburban Bandra, killing one person and injuring four others who were sleeping outside. Although the actor has already deposited compensation for the families of victims as directed by the High Court, Wagle’s petition is still being heard as the court expanded its scope to include the issue of enhancement of punishment in accident cases.