Salman's blood samples may have been tampered with: lawyer

Bollywood actor Salman Khan's lawyer today argued before the Bombay High Court that the blood samples collected to test the presence of alcohol in his blood after the 2002 hit-and-run mishap may have been tampered with.
The High Court is hearing an appeal filed by the actor against his conviction and five-year sentence in the case where he was found guilty of ramming his Toyota Land Cruiser into a shop in suburban Bandra, killing one person and injuring four others on September 28, 2002.
Advocate Amit Desai, Salman's lawyer, contended there were discrepancies in the evidence right from the stage when Salman was taken to J J Hospital for a blood test.

"The discrepancies show that the samples might have been tampered with...We are not sure that the samples sent for analysis were that of Salman," Desai argued before Justice A R Joshi.
There was a confusion whether Salman's blood was drawn at 2.35 pm or 3 pm on September 28 as there were two memos suggesting different times, he said.
Further, "there is no evidence to suggest who took charge (of the blood samples) and we are also not sure that when it went to the chemical analyst whether it was of Salman Khan or not," advocate Desai said.
The samples were not sealed properly and Salman's written consent (before drawing the blood) was not taken. But there was his thumb impression on accompanying document. "When there was an oral consent, why the thumb impression was required?" the lawyer asked.

The hearing would continue tomorrow.