2002 hit-and-run case: Patil an 'unreliable' witness, observes HC

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday raised doubt over the evidence of former police bodyguard of Bollywood star Salman Khan in the 2002 hit-and-run case.

The Court observed that as a witness, bodyguard Ravindra Patil was "wholly unreliable".

The observation was made by Justice A.R. Joshi, while dictating the verdict in the plea filed by Khan against the five-year sentence given to him by a Mumbai sessions court on May 6.

The FIR in this case was lodged by Patil on September 28, 2002, hours after occurrence of the mishap.

In the FIR, he had failed to mention whether Salman was driving the car under the influence of liquor.

However, on October 1, 2002, after Salman's blood test report was received, Patil gave a statement before a magistrate, saying that the actor had taken drinks on the day of the mishap.

Patil had also said he had warned him not to drive rashly, else he would meet with an accident but Salman had not heeded to his advice.

The Judge observed that Patil's evidence was doubtful, because he had made improvements in his version later when his statement was recorded.

Patil had died during the trial, and hence was not available for the proceedings in the sessions court.

However, the prosecution had produced Patil's statement, which was recorded by a magistrate earlier, in which he had implicated Salman.

Patil's statement was accepted by the trial court, which said it was admissible in law and based on it the actor was convicted.

However, admissibility of the statement was challenged by Khan, who said the witness was not available to him for cross-examination and contended that the trial court had erred in accepting this piece of evidence.

On September 28, 2002, the actor's car had rammed into a shop in suburban Bandra, in which one person was killed and four others were injured.