Rajiv Kapoor acquitted

PUNE:Twelve years after actor Rajiv Kapoor was arrested in an accident case, the PuneCantonment court on Friday acquitted him of all charges, citing lack ofevidence.Pronouncing the judgement in an open court, judicialmagistrate first class Prashant Kale said, "The prosecution has miserably failedto prove charges against Kapoor under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Codeand Motor Vehicles Act."Son of legendary actor Raj Kapoor, Rajivallegedly hit motorcyclist Sandeep Khole near Volga chowk on East street, onApril 19, 1997, while driving his car in an inebriated condition.Khole, who was thrown off his bike due to the impact, injured hisleg in the incident. After the verdict, Kapoor said, "I was implicated in thecase because I am a celebrity, but the court has finally given mejustice."Kapoor raised his hands saying "God is great" and threw histhumbs up gesturing his happiness about the court order. A largenumber of people gathered outside the court on M G road to get a glimpse ofKapoor as he has been in the limelight ever since the case against him had comeup for hearing.Kapoor's lawyers Girish Shinde and Mohan Wadekarsaid, "The prosecution had failed to prove charges that Kapoor was driving underthe influence of liquor as the police had not collected his blood samples toprove that he had consumed liquor over 30 ml when he was taken to Sassoongeneral hospital for conducting the medical examination."The lawyerspointed out that not a single witness had deposed that Kapoor was driving thevehicle on the day of incident. The lawyers said, "ComplainantSandeep Khole and his friend Ganesh Hirve in the cross examination had said thatthey felt that the car belonged to Kapoor as he had borne the medical expensesof Khole."The lawyers submitted that Khole met with an accident ashe had entered on the wrong side of the road and hence the charge of injuringhim due to rash and negligent act was not proved. They charged thepolice for implicating Kapoor merely on suspicion as he had provided medicalassistance to the victim. They also raised the issue that section 117 and 119 ofMotor Vehicles Act was not attracted against Kapoor. Assistantpublic prosecutor Devendra Sonnis had relied on the evidence of Khole, Hirve andmedical officer for proving the case. Sonnis had drawn an inference that Kapoorhad committed the offence as he had paid the medical bills. Reactingto the court order, Sonnis said, "The prosecution will prefer an appeal beforethe Bombay High Court after studying the judgement."The prosecutionhad examined four witness, but the panch witness had turned hostile in the caseand sub-inspector G M Kawade, who was investigating the case, had failed to turnup before the court. Kawade had arrested Kapoor immediately afterthe accident, but he was released on bail. The chargesheet has listed sixwitnesses, including the complainant and the investigatingofficer.The court upheld the defence lawyer's plea and acquittedKapoor.