Prosecution cries 'ulterior motive' against its own witness

Salman's lawyer objected to it and said it was prosecution's modus operandi to term a good piece of cross-examination as being driven by 'ulterior motive.'

File photo of actor Salman Khan.

The prosecution, on Wednesday, ascribed 'ulterior motive' to one of its own witnesses — a police constable who had transported Salman Khan's blood sample from Bandra police station to the forensic laboratory, after the 2002 hit and run case.

Salman Khan's lawyer objected to it and said it was prosecution's modus operandi to term a good piece of cross-examination as being driven by 'ulterior motive.'

The police constable in question had denied some statements made before the magisterial court.

"Did he mean to say that the magistrate recorded false evidence?" Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat asked.

He sought that an RTO officer who had inspected the accident car, be tried for perjury. Mr. Gharat said the replies given by the RTO officer in the court were irresponsible in nature, as he said that he was at the accident spot for inspection for only a few seconds.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Gharat denied the defence's contention that the police and the hospital authorities did not follow protocols while dealing with the actor's blood samples.

The Special Public Prosecutor argued that the cross-examination of the doctors and the police officials who were involved in conducting the examination of Salman and transporting and storing the actor's blood sample, was general in nature.

He claimed that the doctor, who took Salman's blood sample, sought oral permission from the actor.

Mr. Gharat called into question the queries raised by the defence regarding the procedure of collecting the actor's blood sample. "The procedure doesn't affect the quality of blood. Cross-examination doesn't show that blood extracted in a particular manner affects the quality of blood," he said.

He argued that the cross-examination conducted by the defence did not attempt to show that there was a possibility of contamination of Salman's blood sample.

Referring to the alleged confusion about the number of vials in which the blood was collected, Mr. Gharat said there was no need for the Senior Police Inspector of Bandra Police station to know the contents of the packet that was handed over to him to be sent for chemical analysis. So he did not open the pack to see how many vials were present in it.

The prosecution will continue its arguments on Thursday.