Kamaal Khan may know what happened that night so long ago but the court did not deem him pertainent to the case. The judge made this ruling while still admitting that Kamaal was in the car at the time of the accident. The judge however was of the opinion that a fair and just judgement can be ascertained without it. The judge, however, moved to allow testimony from an eyewitness that wasn't allowed in trial court.
According to the Indian Express, "The court held that the primary object of Section-391 was "prevention of guilty man's escape through ignorant proceedings before the court. But an innocent person should not be wrongly convicted", pointing out that deciding on this issue was the discretion of the court." Salman's lawyer had argued that under Section 391, the court could recall Kamaal.
The judge had this to say about the 391 application, brought to us by The Times of India, "There is nothing to show that but for the substantial evidence of Kamaal Khan, no decision can be taken in the appeal. If there is no dire need for the examination of Kamaal Khan and if the material available can be analyzed in itself, then in the considered view of this court recourse to Section 391 is not the ultimate requirement, "
At the moment Kamaal is based in England. Salman's lawyer countered saying "Why the prosecution had not examined this witness in the trial court?... Kamaal Khan is the best eyewitness available to the prosecution as he was present in Salman's car on September 28, 2002, when it rammed into a shop in Bandra killing one person and injuring four other"
This is an interesting turn of events seeing as though it was thought that it was Salman who spirited him away in the middle of the night.
What do you think? Is Salman innocent or guilty?
