Salman Khan’s acquittal by the Bombay High Court in the 2002 hit-and-run-case was today challenged in the Supreme Court by the victim’s family.
Deceased Noorullah Sheikh’s son Firoz Sheikh filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court. On September 28, 2002, Shaikh Noorulla Shafik was killed on the spot when the actor’s Land Cruiser crashed into men sleeping on a pavement outside a bakery in Bandra.
The apex court has fixed February 12 to hear the matter.
In December, the Bombay High Court acquitted the 50-year-old actor, saying there was not enough evidence that he was drunk that night and that he was driving the car.
Shafik’s wife and son want the high court’s order reversed and the actor sent to jail. They argue that the court made a serious error in cancelling a trial court’s order convicting the actor and sending him to jail for five years.
They have also demanded compensation, claiming that they haven’t received any money till now.
Shafiq’s wife has said in her petition that she works as a domestic help and her son does menial jobs at construction sites.
The Maharashtra government has also challenged the actor’s acquittal, calling it a “travesty of justice”.
Arguing for the state, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi described the high court ruling as “perverse” and said the theory that the car was being driven by Mr Khan’s driver should be discarded.
The state, through counsel Nishant Katneswarkar, also claims that the driver had not said that he was driving that night and only turned up 13 years later to say so.
In their fresh plea, Firoz Shaikh and Begum Jahan Haroon Khan, also questioned the actor’s acquittal. The trial court had earlier convicted him for the rash and negligent act of driving drunk and sentenced him to five years in jail, but allowed him bail.
