Maharashtra challenges Salman Khan's acquittal in hit-and-run case

State moves Supreme Court against Bombay HC order overturning trial court's conviction of the star

The Maharashtra government moved the Supreme Court on Friday, challenging Bollywood star Salman Khan's acquittal in a 2002 hit-and-run case by the Bombay High Court in December 2015.

The actor had  been convicted in May by a trial court, of killing a man with his SUV, following a drinking session on the night of September 28, 2002. Khan's Toyota Land Cruiser had run over five men sleeping outside American Express bakery in Mumbai's Bandra locality.

The High Court had shot down the trial court's ruling on December 10, and acquitted Khan of all charges and scrapped his five-year jail term. The high court said that the prosecution was not able to sufficiently establish that the 49-year-old star was behind the wheel on the fateful night or was drunk at the time of the accident.

It discarded the testimony of the actor's bodyguard, Ravindra Patil, who was a key prosecution witness. During his deposition, Patil had claimed that Khan was drunk and driving, and had ignored his repeated warnings. The bodyguard died of tuberculosis in 2007.