2002 hit-and-run case: Court cancels bailable warrant against Salman Khan

On Saturday, Salman Khan appeared before the court and signed on the fresh surety application with Jolly present. The sessions court then disposed of the warrant against him.

A MUMBAI sessions court on Saturday cancelled a bailable warrant it had issued against actor Salman Khan in the 2002 hit-and-run case for not completing the process to furnish a surety as asked by the Bombay High Court. One person was killed and four were injured after Khan’s SUV ran them over in Mumbai in the intervening night of September 27 and 28 in 2002. The actor was acquitted in the case by the Bombay High Court in December 2015. It had overturned the order of a session court, which had in May 2015 convicted Khan under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and sentenced him to five years in jail.

After being convicted, Khan had appealed before the High Court against the sessions court’s five-year sentence. The High Court, while acquitting him in December 2015, had directed him to furnish a surety. An accused is required to submit a surety, which is a guarantee given by a person that the accused will fulfill the obligation or condition set by the court.

This year, Khan had sought to submit a new surety in place of the earlier one and submitted the name of his bodyguard Gurmeet Singh Jolly, also known as Shera. The process, however, was not completed, due to which the sessions court issued a bailable warrant against him on April 4.

After Khan approached the session court seeking cancellation of the warrant, the court had stayed the warrant on April 11, while granting him time till April 25 to complete the surety process.

On Saturday, Khan appeared before the court and signed on the fresh surety application with Jolly present. The sessions court then disposed of the warrant against him.

The Maharashtra government’s appeal against Khan’s acquittal is pending before the Supreme Court.