Salman Khan can face a jail term upto 10 years.

Actor Salman Khan was on Wednesday charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder in the 2002 hit-and-run case for which he can face a jail term upto 10 years.

Speaking about the case, well-known lawyer Majeed Memon, says, "Although this widely discussed case has been delayed for a fairly long time, the incident is 11 years old and therefore, in a criminal trial it becomes difficult to secure the evidence of relevant witnesses at such a belated stage. Some witnesses die, others change their residences over the years and become unavailable to the prosecution, thereby making it difficult to establish the case. In the instant case of Salman Khan, what needs to be found out is, as to who is responsible for this delay."

He went on to add, "The accused, Salman Khan, himself cannot exclusively be held responsible for this long delay. In criminal matters, the delay can be attributed to various factors including the procedural pendency of revisions and appeals even before the trial. In any case, such inordinate delay should be avoided in the best interest of truth and justice."

"Now that the charges in the case have been framed, it is an important milestone and it is expected that now the trial court will not delay in conducting and concluding this trial. Needless to say that non-availability of witnesses causes advantage to the accused in all trials, for which the accused cannot be faulted. The prosecution as required by law has to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt and if any doubt is left out, the benefit is necessarily extended to the accused," said Memon.