Constable made eyewitness at last stage, says Salman's lawyer

Seeking to demolish the prosecution theory of drunken-driving and hit-and-run, Salman Khan’s defence team on Tuesday questioned the prosecution’s move to
introduce the evidence of police constable late Ravindra Patil at the fag end of the trial.

“As the Supreme Court says, unfolding the narrative of the prosecution case must be the first witness or first set of witnesses,” senior defence counsel Amit Desai  told Justice A R Joshi of the Bombay High Court in the appeal challenging the actor’s conviction and five-year jail term awarded to him by the Mumbai Sessions Court.

“To ensure that there is a fair trial, the prosecutor (Pradeep Gharat) must have informed the court that he was not available and the prosecution wishes to include his evidence,” Desai said. “The credibility of witness has been impeached,” Desai.

Patil had died of TB in October 3, 2007.  However, before that his statement had been recorded before the magistrate’s court in Bandra. Additional Sessions Judge D W Deshpande, who conducted the trial, allowed his evidence to be included.

Patil was with Khan on September 28, 2002, at the spot where the accident took place.