The special leave petition (SLP) sought setting aside of the high court judgement and a direction to the 50-year-old actor and Maharashtra government to pay compensation for survival of petitioner Muslim Niyamat Shaikh and his family. 

The Maharashtra government has already challenged Salman’s acquittal and sought restoration of trial court’s decision, whose hearing will be on Friday. It has said that among the errors committed by the high court was non-consideration of evidence of complainant Ravindra Patil, former police bodyguard of Salman, in its “proper perspective”.

The high court, in its verdict passed on December 10 last year, had held that prosecution had failed to prove “beyond reasonable doubt” that the actor was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident and was drunk. 

The petition filed by the injured man alleged that the high court has wrongly acquitted Salman by “ignoring the material points with regard to the statement of the petitioner before the police and the trial court” which had sentenced him to five years rigorous imprisonment. 

The petition said the high court was not justified in not attributing knowledge on the part of Salman in driving the vehicle at a fast speed and under the influence of liquor and treating it as a pure and simple accident and not considering it a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304 Part-II of the IPC.

(Feature image source: Reuters)