Mumbai court rejects Salman Khan plea to ban Media

The Mumbai sessions court has rejected the appeal of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan Appeal to ban the media during the recording of his statement in a 2002 hit-and-run case.

Judge D. W. Deshpande rejected the plea but directed the media to report only after the recording of Salman's entire statement is completed and also not to opinionate in the matter, stick to plain reporting of the actual proceedings before the court. The actor was ordered to personally appear before Deshpande to record his statement under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code, considered a crucial stage in the retrial of the case before the final arguments begin.

In the wee hours of September 28, 2002, Salman's white Toyota Land Cruiser rammed into the American Express Bakery in suburban Bandra, close to his sea-front home in Galaxy Apartments, before fleeing from the accident site.

Earlier, Salman reached the Mumbai Sessions Court to record his statement on the sequence of events pertaining to the case, which left one dead and four injured after his rashly driven vehicle crashed into them leading to Salman's arrest by the Bandra Police later that morning. The actor is facing charges of IPC Sec 304(II) - which attracts a 10-year jail sentence, Sec 279, Sec 337, Sec 338, Sec 427, and under Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949.