Actor Salman Khan has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder charges by a Mumbai sessions court today. Salman Khan will be now face trial for culpable homicide not amounting to murder for which the actor might face a jail time up to 10 years.

Salman Khan pleaded not guilty this morning. 

The trial is expected to be a long process and the busy actor has been exempted from appearing in court for each hearing. The case will now be heard by a different judge, the court announced today.

On September 28, 2002, allegedly drunk Salman Khan rammed his SUV into a bakery on Hill Road, Bandra, in the early hours of the morning, killing one and injuring four persons asleep on the pavement outside.

The actor was earlier Section 304-A, causing death by negligence.

But in January in the wake of new evidence provided by police the charges were changed to Section 304-II, culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Other than culpable homicide, the actor has also been charged under IPC sections 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing minor injuries), 338 (causing major injuries) and 427 (negligence). He also faces charges under the Motor Vehicles Act and other laws.

The trial for this case began way back in 2006 but the case gone from court to court with arguments centered on whether Mr. Khan was driving the car that day or not. The Mumbai police say they have enough evidence, a claim accepted by the sessions court.

In 1998, Salman Khan spent three days in prison for killing a black buck, an endangered species of deer, in Rajasthan. This case too is still undergoing trial.