Bailable warrant against Salman Khan in 2002 hit and run case

In fresh trouble for actor Salman Khan, a city sessions court has issued a bailable arrest warrant against him after he did not turn up for substitution of a bail surety in the 2002 accident case.

A surety is a person who promises to the court to supervise an accused who is out on bail.

A police official said Salman’s lawyer had filed an application in the Supreme Court to replace a surety in February.

“The apex court asked the actor to name the new surety before the concerned trial court. Salman’s lawyer told the SC that one of the sureties had required discharge and needed to be replaced,” said a police official.

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Following the order, the sessions court issued a notice to Salman, after which the Bandra police visited his house in the first week of March. The police handed over the notice to actor’s father Salim Khan. During the first notice, the actor was in Dubai, said another official.

However, Salman and his lawyer did not appear before the court, the judge issued another notice and asked the police to specifically hand over the notice to the actor. The notice was given to him in the last week of March, but this time neither Salman nor his lawyer approached the court, said the official.

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On April 4, additional session judge MG Deshpande issued a bailable arrest warrant against the actor and asked the Bandra police to submit the report on April 11.

Salman still awaits the final verdict in the accident case as the appeal filed against his acquittal by the Bombay high court is yet to come up for hearing before the apex court. The actor was accused of driving his Toyota Land Cruiser under the influence of alcohol and running over five people sleeping on the pavement. One person was killed and four injured. The incident took place outside a bakery in Bandra in the early hours of September 28, 2002.

The actor was sentenced to five years in jail by a sessions court under the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in May 2015.

But he was acquitted of all charges by the Bombay high court in December 2015. The Bombay high court set aside the conviction of the actor, observing that the prosecution had failed to prove that the actor was driving the vehicle under the influence of alcohol.