How Salman made it back home so fast

FACTS Court considered evidence of the chemical analyser, who had checked the actor’s blood samples; judge dismissed defence’s claim that driver was behind the wheel

MUMBAI: Although actor Salman Khan denied that he was drunk at the time of the 2002 hit-and-run case, the sessions court considered the evidence of the chemical analyser, who said the actor was under the influence of alcohol that fatal night, to sentence the actor to five years’ rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of `25,000.

The operative order delivered by sessions judge DW Desphande on Wednesday gives out the quantum of sentence for each of the charge levelled against Khan.

While a detailed order is still awaited, the judge told the actor, “After considering all the evidence, I have come to the conclusion that you were driving the vehicle.”

More importantly, the judge said he had considered the evidence of chemical analyser Dattatray Bhalshankar, who had said the actor was under the influence of alcohol.

During his deposition, Bhalshankar had told the court that he had worked at a forensic lab in Pune as an assistant chemical analyser and had analysed at least 1,000 cases of alcohol consumption till 2002.

He said on September 30, 2002, the Bandra police had sent him Khan’s blood samples to check the alcohol level.

“I first checked whether the sample was sealed and then kept it in the freezer. On October 1, 2002, I used the modified diffusion oxidation method to analyse the blood. I found 62mg of ethyl alcohol present in 100ml of blood,” Bhalshankar had said.

He told the court that 30mg of ethyl alcohol is the amount normally found, which can go up to 40mg in case a person is undergoing medical treatment.

The court also refused to accept the version given by Salman’s driver Ashok Singh that he was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident.

Justice Deshpande rejected the argument made by Khan’s lawyer that the victim died after the bumper of the car broke and fell on him during a rescue operation.

One person was killed and four others were injured when a car, allegedly driven by the actor, rammed into a bakery in suburban Bandra in Mumbai on September 28, 2002.

THE ANALYSER FOUND 62MG OF ALCOHOL IN 100ML OF THE ACTOR’S BLOOD. NORMALLY, 30 MG OF ALCOHOL IS FOUND IN BLOOD

SATISH BATE / HT PHOTO Salman’s trusted bodyguard Shera holds the car door open as the actor leaves his Bandra home for the sessions court in Mumbai ahead of his sentencing.