2002 hit-and-run case: Verdict on Salman Khan`s appeal on June 10

Mumbai: A Mumbai sessions court will deliver its verdict on June 10 on the admissibility of an appeal filed by Bollywood actor Salman Khan challenging a magistrate`s order invoking the charge of culpable homicide against him in a 2002 hit-and-run case.

Sessions judge U B Hejib fixed June 10 for deciding the appeal after arguments concluded today. The 47-year-old actor was granted exemption from personal appearance on a plea by his counsel Ashok Mudargi that he was out of town on account of professional engagement. Advancing his arguments against invoking the grave charge of `culpable homicide not amounting to murder` (section 304 part II IPC), Mundargi pleaded the magistrate`s order was "erroneous, bad in law and contrary to evidence on record." The magistrate, he contended, had failed to appreciate that the actor had neither the intention (to kill people) nor the knowledge that his rash and negligent driving would kill a person and cause injury to four others. The offence under this section attracts a ten-year jail term and is triable by a sessions court. Khan was earlier tried by a magistrate under lesser charge of causing death by negligence (Section 304A of IPC), that provides for a maximum punishment of two years in jail. However, in a twist to the case, the metropolitan magistrate, after examining 17 witnesses, had brought forth the more serious charge of culpable homicide against the actor and transferred it to a sessions court for re-trial. Khan`s lawyer also filed written submissions on the appeal and made oral arguments. PTI