(Image source from: Salman Khan's hit-and-run case to be fast-tracked now})

It's been eleven long years since Salman Khan's hit-and-run case has been on trial. And now we hear that the Mumbai sessions court has ordered a fresh trial into the case.

The ordered was issued on Thursday after it was found that witnesses had not been examined in the context of the 'aggravated charge of culpable homicide invoked against the actor midway through the proceedings'.

Considering Salman's plea for a fresh trial, Judge D.W. Deshpande ruled that the trial would be held "de novo" (fresh) as the actor "had not been given an opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses vis-a-vis the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder", which entails a 10-year sentence.

Expressing concern on the prolonged trial, the judge said that the proceedings in the case would now be fast-tracked.

Salman Khan was previously tried by a magistrate for the lesser offense of causing death by negligence, which attracts two-year imprisonment.

"The evidence adduced before the magistrate would not be considered and all witnesses who appeared earlier would be examined and cross-examined afresh," the judge said.

The next hearing has been scheduled on December 23.

AW: Suchorita Dutta Choudhury