SC dismisses Salman's plea in hit-and-run case

In a setback to Bollywood actor Salman Khan, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed his plea for an in-camera deposition of a key eye witness in the hit-and-run case of 2002, in which he is accused of killing one and injuring four.

A bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice Altamas Kabir said since the testimony of all other witnesses were taking place in the open court there would be no problem in recording the statement of main witness Ravinder Patil in the same manner.

Salman had challenged the Bombay High Court verdict rejecting his plea for in-camera deposition of Patil, a constable who is the complainant and key witness in the case. The deposition of Patil, who was the then bodyguard of Salman, is considered significant because he had accompanied the actor when his car had rammed into a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one and injuring four, who were sleeping on the pavement outside the bakery.

Patil had earlier given a statement to the police that he had warned Salman not to drive so rashly or else he would meet with an accident, but the actor did not pay heed to his advice.

Salman's lawyer Dipesh Mehta had submitted that Patil was levelling all sorts of allegations against the Khan family and the case has attained media attention. He had said the witnesses are likely to be influenced and would not tell the truth and had sought in-camera deposition of at least the main witness.