'Salman is being made a scapegoat'

MUMBAI: The sessions court has framed ten charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, against Salman Khan who pleaded not guilty to all.
The charges framed against Salman include failure to take injured persons to the hospital, driving without a licence and driving under the influence of alcohol punishable under the Motor Vehicles Act apart from an offence under the Bombay Prohibition Act of consuming liqour without having possessing a licence.The charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under the Indian Penal Code is a serious offence that attracts up to ten years of imprisonment.
Salman''s counsel Mr Shirodkar had opposed the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304(II) of the IPC on the grounds that merely stating that Salman had driven at a high speed did not mean that he knew that his act would be dangerous.
He argued that at best the case was that of rash and negligent driving for which the maximum punishment prescribed was two years.
Mr Shirodkar said Salman was being made a scapegoat due to the public outcry after the incident and that the police had no evidence to charge him under section 304(II) of the IPC. He questioned the delayed recording of statement of the police bodyguard Ravindra Patil, appointed for Salman, who was the complainant in this case.He said constable Patil''s second statement was an attempt to implicate Salman for culpable homicide. He said driving fast was not synonymous with being reckless.
Mr Kini said Salman drove fast despite a warning to slow down given by his police body guard Ravindra Patil. He said Mr Patil told the police that he had cautioned Salman about the right turn near St Andrews road but the actor had paid no heed and rammed straight into the bakery situated on Hill road, killing one of the workers sleeping on the steps of the shop.