Actor in court as judge hears depositions in 2002 hit and run case, which is adjourned to December 15
Salman Khan's blood report indicated that he had two times the permissible limit of alcohol in his blood the night he is alleged to have run over five people who were asleep on a pavement near his home in Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one.
D K Bhalshankar, an assistant chemical analyser at Mumbai's Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), who tested Salman's blood sample, revealed his findings to a sessions court on Wednesday during his deposition as the prosecution's 19th witness.Bhalshankar told the court that as per the Motor Vehicle Act, permissible limit for presence of alcohol in human blood sample is 30mg per 100ml of blood, while Salman's sample showed presence of 62mg of alcohol.
The actor was present in court during the proceedings.
Responding to a question by Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Pradeep Gharat, Bhalshankar said that a person on medication containing alcohol could test for alcohol level ranging from 40 to 45 mg per 100 ml.
Bhalshankar, who is on the verge of retirement, was transferred from Pune to Mumbai CFSL in 2001 and had analysed Salman's blood sample on October 1, 2002 using the modified diffusion oxidation method to conduct the test.
Advocate Shrikant Shivade, appearing for Salman, requested the court to defer Bhalshankar's cross-examination, which the court granted.Shivade submitted that the prosecution should have examined witnesses “serial number wise“ so far as the sequence of Salman's examination of blood was concerned.
Meanwhile, the police are yet to trace Dr.Suhas Pawar, who had collected the blood sample from Salman after the incident and forwarded it for examination.
According to Shivade, Dr. Pawar should have been the first one to be examined in this series.He also pointed out an anomaly in the number of blood sample collected: the documents did not clarify if one vial of blood was collected or two, a matter that only Dr. Pawar could help resolve. He added that given these circumstances, cross-examining Bhalshankar could prejudice his case.
The 20th witness to be examined by the court was a Motor Vehicle Inspector at the Regional Transport Office, who examined the Toyota Land Cruiser that the actor allegedly steered when the incident occurred. His deposition dwelt on the extent of damage caused to the car due to the accident.
He told the court that the car was in good running condition and that he drove it for almost a kilometre a few hours after the incident to check how it worked. During a lengthy technical deposition, the inspector suggested that in his opinion, the only reason the car veered to the right, as it did on the night he allegedly drove over five men sleeping on a pavement near American Bakery on Hill Road, was if it was being driven improperly.
However, during the cross-examination, it transpired that the inspector had not received training to examine imported cars; that he did not use the exact pro-forma provided under the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle rules for preparing his report and that he did not examine the spot where the accident occurred. He also told the court that this is the only case in his career in which he examined a Land Cruiser.
The defence alleged that the officer was tutored after he was found carrying a handwritten page in a folder placed before him. The defence alleged these papers contained instructions regarding questions that he could face during cross-examination.
The case has now been adjourned for December 15 and Salman has been exempted from appearing in court that day.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
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