Actor Salman Khan on Thursday approached the Supreme Court asking to be heard before the Maharashtra government’s appeal against his acquittal in the 2002 hit-and-run case. The state government has challenged the Bombay High Court’s decision in December to acquit him of all charges, after a lower court had charged him with culpable homicide in May last year.

Along with acquitting Khan, the High Court had also ruled that the authorities had not followed the protocol while investigating the matter. However, the Maharashtra government said in its petition that evidence of complainant Ravindra Patil was substantial and that its rejection by the High Court was wrong. Patil, a constable, was with the actor’s bodyguard in the SUV when it hit five pavement dwellers in Mumbai's Bandra suburb, resulting in the death of one of them.