Mumbai: Expressing dissatisfaction over the manner in which investigations were conducted into the hit-and-run case involving film actor Salman Khan, Mumbai High Court on October 5 directed police to submit the case papers on October 7 and ordered the actor to remain present on that day.

The directions were issued by Justices A P Shah and Ranjana Desai on a public interest litigation (PIL) urging for review of provisions of Motor Vehicles Act with regard to payment of compensation to victims, the sentence to criminal offenders and adoption of reformatory methods to prevent such unfortunate occurrences.

The judges also expressed anguish over the plight of victims and directed public prosecutor Jyoti Pawar to lend her assistance on the point of application of law in this case. She has been asked to find out whether Salman had been appropriately charged in this case.

The prosecutor informed the court that Advocate General Goolam Vahanvati was seized of the matter and would address the court on the next day of hearing on October 7.

The court ordered the petitioners, journalists Nikhil Wagle, Nilu Damle and Sudha Kulkarni of Mahila Dakshata Samiti, to serve notice on Salman Khan.

The PIL has raised certain legal issues as regards the compensation paid to victims. It urged that the compensation paid in road accidents concerning rash and negligent driving should be determined on the basis of paying capacity of the person on the wheel and not on earning capacity of victims.

Citing several instances of actor Salman Khan's alleged violent behavior with co- stars and his involvement in a black buck poaching case in Rajasthan, the PIL suggested that he desperately needed psychiatric or psychoanalytical treatment before another fatal outburst.

Counsel for the petitioners, Niteen Pradhan, urged the court to direct police to invoke the provisions of Mental Health Act, 1987, in the case of Salman and get him treated by a psychiatric in a hospital until such time he recovered.

The PIL cited instances to indicate that Salman had in the past allegedly turned violent on shooting sets and physically assaulted co-star and friend Aishwarya Rai.

The actor had even ignored police complaints lodged by the Rai family against him and disturbed shooting schedule of the actress on many occasions earlier, the PIL said.

The petitioners said they were not at all suggesting, even impliedly, that he was a lunatic or mentally derailed. They said they had sympathy for Salman but the nuisance caused by him in the society was intolerable.

PTI