MUMBAI: A witness in the 2002 alleged hit-and-run case involving actor Salman Khan told a sessions court that the Bollywood star did not have a licence at the time of the incident. The RTO officer said Khan procured it only in 2004.

Special public prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said, “The witness deposed in lieu of a charge framed against Khan under the Motor Vehicles Act for not possessing a licence. The witness’ cross-examination will be conducted on Tuesday.”



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The witness had recorded his statement with the police earlier this month. During the hearing on January 31, Gharat wanted him as a witness. Judge D W Deshpande permitted the plea. The witness told the court that he had given Khan’s licence status to the Bandra police. “As per the records, he was issued a licence on August 17, 2004. It is valid till 2015,” the witness said. The accident happened in 2002.

The prosecution also examined another witness, a police inspector, who took Khan from the Bandra police station to JJ Hospital for medical examination. Gharat said that summons to depose as a witness could not be delivered to the doctor who had conducted the post-mortem on the body of the victim who died in the incident.

“The constable who tried to deliver the summons was told that the doctor was in the US,” Gharat said. The court may begin cross-examination on Wednesday of a chemical analyst who had conducted the blood alcohol test on Khan’s blood sample. The officer had deposed last week but his cross-examination was stalled following an application by Gharat, who said that under a section of the CrPC, the witness, a gazetted officer of the Forensic Science Laboratory, cannot be questioned on the process which he adopted for examination and analysis.