Salman's legal team doubts chemical analysis report

Raising serious doubts over the chemical analyser’s (CA) report, actor Salman Khan’s legal team on Thursday questioned its evidentiary value saying that it has been rendered inadmissible because of lapses in drawing, sealing, transporting and preserving.

“The CA report, the exhibit no 81, is the only piece of paper that says he had (consumed) alcohol and that he had drunk in excess, above limit,” senior defence counsel Amit Desai, who represents Khan, told Justice A R Joshi, who is presiding over the appeal of the actor against his five-year sentence in the 14-year-old drunken-driving and hit-and-run case.
“As many as 27 witnesses have deposed in the case, none spoke of alcohol except for half a sentence by one of the persons injured and this piece of paper,” he said.

“We cannot run away from the procedure when you are dealing with life and liberty of a person,” Desai told the court.

He said that as far as the evidence of police constable Ravindra Patil is concerned, he has not mentioned of alcohol in the FIR. “It is also to be mentioned here that his statement was recorded on October 1, only after the CA report arrived at the Bandra police station,” he said and added, “Everything is suspicious here.”

He also said the vials were not sealed properly, the prosecution has not been able to probe whether the syringes were sterilised or not, whether the vial was shaken after mixing anti-coagulant and preservative.