In
a
new
twist
to
Salman
Khan's
hit-and-run
case,
the
prosecution
on
Wednesday
made
a
fervent
plea
to
court
and
questioned
the
claim
of
driver
Ashok
Singh.
Rejecting
and
disbelieving
Salman's
submission
that
he
was
not
driving
the
vehicle,
and
the
subsequent
admission
by
his
driver,
public
prosecutor
Pradeep
Gharat
questioned
the
presence
of
the
fourth
person
in
the
car.
In
the
past
13
years,
the
presence
of
only
three
people
was
known
--
Salman,
his
friend
and
singer
Kamaal
Khan,
and
police
bodyguard,
late
Ravindra
Patil,
the
public
prosecutor
said.
"He
(Ashok
Singh)
appears
to
have
been
brought
in
now," Gharat
told
Additional
Sessions
Judge
D.W.
Deshpande,
during
the
resumption
of
the
final
arguments
in
the
September
28,
2002
accident
case
which
left
one
pavement
dweller
dead
and
four
others
injured.
He
pointed
out
that
Salman
revealed
the
details
only
when
the
actor's
statement
was
being
recorded
under
section
313
of
the
Code
of
Criminal
Procedure.
"You
never
ever
mentioned
about
the
fourth
person.
Can
this
piece
of
evidence
be
accepted," Gharat
asked
defence
lawyer
Shrikant
Shivade.
None
of
the
witnesses
examined
in
the
court
had
given
this
suggestion
or
confronted
with
the
new
piece
of
evidence
claimed
by
Salman,
the
prosecutor
said.
Even
after
recording
the
statement,
when
the
court
asked
Salman
whether
he
wanted
to
examine
himself,
he
had
replied
in
the
negative
as
he
would
have
been
exposed
in
the
cross-examination,
Gharat
continued.
He
said
that
since
the
beginning
of
the
trial,
Salman
had
accepted
that
the
vehicle
was
owned
by
him,
it
was
established
by
the
documentation
and
proved
it
was
in
his
possession
at
the
relevant
time.
But
even
at
that
stage,
he
did
not
disclose
that
driver
Ashok
Singh
was
driving
it
at
the
time
of
the
accident,
Gharat
told
the
court.
Moreover,
questioning
Ashok
Singh's
statement
in
which
he
spoke
of
a
burst
tyre
and
losing
control
of
the
vehicle,
Gharat
argued
that
the
Toyoto
Land
Cruiser
was
a
sophisticated,
modern
vehicle
which
would
have
given
indications
of
any
problems
to
the
driver.
Accordingly,
the
prosecutor
contended
that
it
was
difficult
to
believe
the
driver's
version
on
the
accident.
In
a
major
development
in
the
trial,
driver
Ashok
Singh
earlier
told
Sessions
Judge
D.W.
Deshpande
that
he
was
at
the
wheel
of
the
SUV
which
was
not
speeding
when
its
tyre
burst,
but
the
car
dragged
to
the
left
and
he
lost
control.
Although
he
tried
hard
to
apply
the
brakes,
the
vehicle
had
already
climbed
the
stairs
of
the
American
Express
Bakery,
resulting
in
the
accident.
The
arguments
will
now
resume
on
April
6.