Proceedings in the hit-and-run case involving Bollywood star Salman Khan were adjourned to January 31 after a witness failed to appear before the court.

Witness Kalim Mohammed Iqbal was absent and is to be cross-examined during the next hearing, Khan's counsel Dipesh Mehta told.

During the last hearing on January 4, Iqbal, who was one of the four persons injured in the incident, told the court that he had seen Khan climb out of the vehicle after the accident and leave the scene.

Earlier on December 20 last year, one of the injured, Mohammed Muslim Niyat Shaikh, was declared hostile by the prosecution after he denied giving a statement that alleged Khan was driving the vehicle that ran over him.

Another witness who was injured, Mohammed Abdul Kaufshaikh, told the court on June 30 last year that he had not seen Khan getting out of the vehicle that struck him since he was underneath the car.

Khan is accused of driving a vehicle in an inebriated condition on September 28, 2002, when he lost control and ran over five persons sleeping outside a bakery in suburban Bandra.