JOIN USCar slipped and fell on victim, says Salman's lawyer
In a twist to the drunken-driving and hit-and-run case involving actor Salman Khan, his defence counsel Shrikant Shivade seemed to suggest that one of the victims died after the car slipped and fell on him while it was being lifted by a crane.
On the night of September 28, 2002, when the Toyata Land Cruiser Lexus crashed at the junction of Hill Road-St Andrews Road, one Nurullah Mahboob Sharif died in the incident and four others – Kalim Mohammed Pathan, Munna Malai Khan, Abdullah Rauf Shaikh and Muslim Shaikh – were injured. Munna and Abdullah suffered fractures and other injuries.
They were admitted to hospitals for treatment while Kalim and Muslim were allowed to go home after primary medication.
“There are incriminating circumstances to suggest that the car dropped on the persons who were underneath when it was being lifted with the help of a crane brought by the police,” Shivade said in his final arguments before additional sessions judge D W Deshpande of the Mumbai Sessions Court, who is conducting the retrial of the 13-year-old case.
Shivade went on to point out that while the injury certificates of the four persons suggest that the injuries were because of “friction” and “dragging”, the post-mortem of the deceased person shows that he was “crushed”. “He was crushed under the fall of some heavy object,” he told the court. At one stage, he also said that the car weighed around 3,000 kg.
He also questioned the statement of one of the injured witnesses who has said that Nurullah was below the car and screamed and shouted till the crane lifted up the car. “He is misleading,” he said referring to the post-mortem report which suggested that the thorax, larynx, trachea, bronchia, lungs, head, chest and lungs were “crushed” completely. “Can a person in such condition cry for help,” he wanted to know. Shivade pointed out: “The Supreme Court had said one witness is enough for acquittal or conviction….either you accept defence or prosecution, no reconstruction of events is possible (now).”
Shivade also referred to the evidence of witnesses to argue that the people were sleeping on the stairs of the shops using bedsheets and pillows. However, no blood stains were found on bedsheets and pillow covers. Also, no blood spots were found on the stairs where they were sleeping, he said.
“The car had fallen on them when it was being lifted with the help of crane. The bumper, too, was intact but it had come off and was removed after the car was lifted…if they (police) say that the vehicle was speeding at 90 to 100 kmph then how the bumper of the car was found intact and did not suffer damage in the impact of the mishap?,” Shivade said and asked why the statement of the crane operator was not recorded.