The Mumbai police top brass has issued a circular to all police stations highlighting the lapses and discrepancies in the 2002 hit-and-run case in which the Bombay High Court recently acquitted actor Salman Khan.
The circular, issued by the additional commissioner of police (crime) KMM Prasanna, mentions 16 among the several procedural lapses of the police's case the high court highlighted in its judgment.
The state had recently told the high court it would challenge the acquittal in the apex court. While the Bandra police are in the process of drafting the state's appeal, Prasanna has asked all police officers to learn from investigating officer's mistakes and ensure that such goof-ups do not occur again.
Officers from various police stations told mid-day that the unprecedented pointing out of lapses in a particular case has come as a surprise to many. Maharashtra has been plagued by one of the lowest conviction rates among all states in the country.
Sources said the goof-ups in the case were not isolated and that they were noticed in most hit-and-run cases. Taking Salman's case as the benchmark for shoddy investigation, officers have been asked to ensure they present watertight argument when cases come up for trial.
"Whatever anomalies the court pointed out, we have just passed on to our staff," said Prasanna. "That does not mean we accept them (points). We are only pointing it out to our men so that such things don't happen in the future."
The actor's acquittal in the high court came after a lower court had sentenced him to five years. The police came under tremendous criticism for leaving several key discrepancies in the investigation, which went against the prosecution.
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