Mumbai sessions court judge D.W. Deshpande virtually upheld the prosecution’s contentions while convicting Salman Khan in the 13-year-old case.
“I hold that you were driving the vehicle. You were intoxicated,” the judge told Salman standing in the dock in court room no. 52 of the sessions court after informing him that all charges pressed against him had been proved.
The court appeared to be convinced by the evidence put up by the prosecution that Khan was driving the vehicle, the authenticity of the tests that showed he had twice the amount of alcohol in his blood stream at the time of the accident, and that the actor did not possess a valid driving licence when the accident took place.
The judge also rejected the testimony of lone defence witness Ashok Singh, a driver serving the actor’s family for long years, who claimed that it was he who was at the wheel when the accident took place.
In the lead-up to the final verdict, the prosecution had demanded a maximum punishment of 10 years and prayed to the court that “deterrence and correction” were important factors in awarding a sentence to the actor.
“The submission that people were sleeping on the streets does not reduce the seriousness of the crime,” Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat had urged the court.
“Callous driving of vehicles in crowded streets is a major cause for concern. The Supreme Court, Bombay High Court and other high courts have taken a serious view of this.”
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