In May, a district criminal court sentenced Khan to five years in prison for culpable homicide on charges that he lost control of his SUV when driving under the influence of alcohol in 2002, and rammed into a group of people sleeping on a pavement. One person died and four others were injured.
Khan, who turns 50 later this month, appealed against the verdict in the High Court, which granted him bail and permitted him to continue working pending the appeal.
“The prosecution failed to establish its case on all charges,” Judge A. R. Joshi said.
On Wednesday, Joshi ruled that the testimony of the state’s star witness — police constable Ravindra Patil who was accompanying Khan on that night — was not “wholly reliable”.
The judge also said the prosecution had been unable to prove Khan had been drunk. Merely producing restaurant bills did not prove the actor’s inebriated condition, he added.
The prosecution is likely to appeal in the Supreme Court.
Khan, arguably Bollywood’s most successful actor in recent years, has a wide fan base in India where audiences are drawn to his image of a bad boy with a heart of gold.
Earlier this year, Khan played the eponymous hero of “Bajrangi Bhaijaan”, about a man who undertakes a treacherous journey from India to Pakistan to save a little girl. The film was a huge success, racking up 5 billion rupees in worldwide box office sales. Khan also hosts “Bigg Boss”, India’s version of the reality TV show “Big Brother”.
Khan’s next film “Sultan”, in which he plays a wrestler, is lined up for release in 2016.
