A sessions court here Monday deferred to April 8 the hearing of the 2002 hit-and-run case against Bollywood actor Salman Khan. A magistrate court, trying the case, had invoked the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304 part II of the Indian Penal Code) and shifted the trial to the sessions court last month. The charge, if proved, can attract a maximum punishment of 10 years in jail.

The actor had filed a review petition to quash the charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which will be heard April 8 by Sessions Judge UB Hejib. Earlier, Salman Khan was tried by a magistrate under lesser charge of causing death by negligence (Section 304 A IPC) that provides for a maximum punishment of two years in prison. Salman Khan had rammed his car into a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002, killing one person and injuring four others who were sleeping on the pavement.