Mumbai, Dec 24: Bollywood super star Salman Khan may face fresh trouble with the Maharashtra Government has informed Bombay High Court of its decision to challenge in the Supreme Court the verdict acquitting him of all charges in the 2002 hit-and-run case.
The Government told the High Court that a Special Leave Petition (SLP) will be moved in the apex court against the December 10 verdict of Justice A R Joshi, who overturned the sessions court judgement that held Salman guilty and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment.
Government Pleader Abhinandan Vagyani informed a bench that the Law and Judiciary department had accorded sanction to file a SLP in the Supreme Court challenging the High Court verdict which had acquitted Salman, ruling that shoddy investigations were conducted by police in the case.
The SLP would be filed in due course, the pleader said during a hearing of a public interest litigation filed by journalist Nikhil Wagle, seeking compensation from Salman for the victims of the 2002 hit-and-run case.
Though the actor had deposited compensation almost a decade ago for the families of victims as directed by the HC, Wagle’s petition is still being heard as the court expanded its scope to include the issues of enhancement of punishment in drunk driving cases and forensic procedures adopted by the authorities to determine consumption of alcohol by accused.
On May 6, a sessions court had sentenced the actor to five years jail after it held him guilty of offences including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Aggrieved, he filed an appeal in HC which acquitted him.
