A local Mumbai court on Thursday adjourned till August 26, the hit-and-run case in which Salman Khan is accused of killing one and injuring four.
Salman had moved the Bombay High Court demanding an in-camera trial and later amended his plea to just recording the deposition of eyewitness Ravindra Patil in-camera. The High Court order is reserved for next week.
Earlier, the magistrate had rejected Salman’s plea for in-camera trial saying the grounds cited by the actor did not make out a case for such trial. He also noted that in-camera trial is held in cases of rape or unnatural offences to protect the identity of victim or witnesses but in this case it was not justified. Aggrieved Salman moved the High Court.
Salman’s lawyer Dipesh Mehta had pleaded in the lower court that media was going overboard in reporting this case. He said interviews of witnesses appeared in newspapers which prejudiced the mind of the court and the people.
Prosecution opposed Salman’s plea saying that this was not a case for in-camera trial and that the grounds cited by the actor were not relevant to ask for in-camera trial.
Salman has been exempted from appearance throughout the trial unless his presence was felt necessary by the court.
Patil, former police bodyguard of Salman and a key witness, had alleged earlier that he had received threats from actor’s relatives asking him not to depose as a result of which he did not appear during three occasions earlier.