The Bombay High Court on Thursday acquitted actor Salman Khan of all charges in the 2002 hit-and-run case, when his  Toyota SUV crashed into a group of people sleeping on the sidewalk in Bandra, Mumbai.  One person died and four were seriously injured in the accident. Eyewitnesses said they saw the actor exiting the driver’s seat of the vehicle, though his lawyers argued that it was Khan’s chauffeur Ashok Singh behind the wheel that night.

In May this year, a Mumbai sessions court sentenced Khan to five years in jail for culpable homicide. The actor then appealed against the ruling in the Bombay High Court. Observing that the case against Khan could not be established beyond reasonable doubt, the court held that evidence presented against the actor had many “unexplained and glaring anomalies.”

Justice Joshi in his judgement said that “the prosecution has failed to bring material on record to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant (Salman Khan) was driving and under the influence of alcohol, also, whether the accident occurred due to bursting (of tyre) prior to the incident or tyre burst after the incident...."

While the news brought major relief to the actor who reportedly broke down in court after hearing the judgement, social media wasn’t so amused that the actor was let off. Twitter responded with dark humour and sarcasm.