Salman was not drunk, witness tells court in hit-and-run case

Salman was not drunk, witness tells court in hit-and-run case

                                                                                        

AWITNESS in the 2()02 hit-and-run case involving superstar Salman Khan on Wednesday said actor was not smelling of liquor when he met him at his place a Tow hours after the mishap.

The prosecutions case is that Salman's car had rammed into a hakery in suburhan Bandra killing one person and injuring Tour others who were sleeping outside on the pavement in the wee hoursofSeptember28,2002.

"I met Salman on the next day-morning at 9 AM at his place (few hours after the mishapat around 3 AM) and hugged him, but he did not smell of alcohol," Chuky Pandey, brother of actor Chunky Pandey, told the court of sessions Judge DW Deshpande.

During cross-examination. Pandey told Salman's lawyer Srikant Shivadc that the junction near the American l-xpress Bakery where the accident had taken place) was all busy wit h slow vehicular traffic movement. Prosecutor I'radeep Ghantt re-examined him on this point asking him whether there was heavy traffic at this junction all the 24 hours, to which the witness replied: "Not always."

Significantly, the mishap had occurred in the wee hours when there is hardly any traffic on road.

Pandey told the prosecutor during examination-in-chieflhat he had helped Salman buy an importedcar for Ks 14 lakhs from Abdul Kehman through a customs clearing agent. (This question was asked as it was the sam e car which had met with an accident on the ill-fated day).

Pandcy further said that Salman had given two cheques of Rs 12 lakhs and Rs 2 lakhs to car owner Ahdul Rehman.

Al the time of mishap, the vehicle was in the name of its owner and had not yet been transferred in Salman's name, he said.

Another witness, Salim Patel, a customs clearing agent, who had helped the actor in gelling the car cleared from thecustoms after il was imported from Du bai, explained to the court the import procedures.

Salman did not appear before the court on Wednesday as he was busy with the wedding preparations of his sister Arpita.

The court asked him toappear on November 24 and 25 when other witnesses would be examined.

Posted in: News 2014