NEW DELHI – A sessions court in India has issued arrest warrant againstactor Salman Khan after he did not turn up for substitution of a bailsurety in the 2002 accident case.
A surety is a person who promises to the court to supervise an accused whois out on bail.
A police official said Salman’s lawyer had filed an application in theSupreme Court to replace a surety in February.
“The apex court asked the actor to name the new surety before the concernedtrial court. Salman’s lawyer told the SC that one of the sureties hadrequired discharge and needed to be replaced,” said a police official.
Following the order, the sessions court issued a notice to Salman, afterwhich the Bandra police visited his house in the first week of March. Thepolice handed over the notice to actor’s father Salim Khan. During thefirst notice, the actor was in Dubai, said another official.
However, Salman and his lawyer did not appear before the court, the judgeissued another notice and asked the police to specifically hand over thenotice to the actor. The notice was given to him in the last week of March,but this time neither Salman nor his lawyer approached the court, said theofficial.
On April 4, additional session judge MG Deshpande issued a bailable arrestwarrant against the actor and asked the Bandra police to submit the reporton April 11.
Salman still awaits the final verdict in the accident case as the appealfiled against his acquittal by the Bombay high court is yet to come up forhearing before the apex court. The actor was accused of driving his ToyotaLand Cruiser under the influence of alcohol and running over five peoplesleeping on the pavement. One person was killed and four injured. Theincident took place outside a bakery in Bandra in the early hours ofSeptember 28, 2002.