Mumbai: Salman Khan’s driver, Ashok Singh, on Monday corroborated Khan’s statement and said that Singh had been at the wheel on the fateful night when the hit-and-run accident happened back in 2002. According to television reports, Singh also added that he was not given any money to depose before the court on Monday.
In the last hearing of 2002 hit-and-run case, Khan had deposed before the court and said he had not been driving and claimed Singh had been at the steering wheel. The actor also denied the prosecution’s charge that he had drunk alcohol just before the accident.
“My driver, Ashok Singh, was driving the car when the mishap occurred,” said Khan, attired in a white shirt and blue denim jeans, replying to a question posed by Judge D W Deshpande.
According to Ashok Singh, he had gone to the police immediately after the incident but the police did not pay any heed to his statement. According to a report in The Times of India, in the court Singh said, “I went to the police station immediately after the incident and was there until 4.30pm that day . But the police did not listen to me.”
Singh added that he decided to come to the court after Khan’s father Salim Khan told him to “tell the truth”.
According to the reports, Singh denied allegations that he was paid money to falsely depose and said that he did not earlier come out with the truth because “he did not have understanding or knowledge about what was to be done.”
Khan was summoned to make a statement under section 313 of Cr.Pc on the evidence presented in court during the trial. He was asked 418 questions by the judge.
Khan’s car had rammed into a bakery shop in Bandra in the wee hours of 28 September, 2002, killing one person and injuring four others who were sleeping on the pavement.
According to the prosecution, Khan was driving the car and under the influence of liquor at the time. Khan denied both charges.
“I do not want to examine myself, but would like to examine defense witnesses”, said the actor when the court asked him what he had to say about the case against him. Khan further said the entire evidence placed in the court against him was “false”. The actor denied having drunk at the bar he had been in with his friends and brother Sohail Khan, just before the mishap.
“I was having a glass of water at the bar,” he said in reply to a question. The actor also said that Bala Shankar, who had tested Khan’s blood sample, was not an expert. He was responding to the deposition of a witness who had told the court earlier that 62mg alcohol was found in Khan’s blood sample, which was above the permissible limit, indicating the actor had drunk alcohol before the hit-and-run incident.
Khan further told the judge that the chemical analysis expert, while testing his blood sample, had allegedly not followed the procedures prescribed for examination.
Khan was shown three photographs of the spot where his car had met with an accident and he identified them. These photos had been produced by the prosecution earlier.
Public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat pointed out that the only person who appeared to agree with Ashok Singh’s version was Salman.
“I have not seen any complaint or any record about Ashok Singh (being the driver) and no other witnesses have spoken about him,” he added.
(Inputs: Firstpost)
