The Jodhpur Court on January 25 deferred the hearing in the Blackbuck poaching case allegedly involved Bollywood superstar Salman Khan till January 27. The prosecution had already submitted the recording of the witnesses statements in the court.
Salman was accused of hunting two Chinkaras at Bhawad in Mathania near Jodhpur on September 26, 1998, and another Chinkara at Ghoda farms two days later on September 28th, while he was in Jodhpur filming for Hum Saath Saath Hain along with his co-stars Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre and Neelam.
In 2006, Salman had been convicted by the trial court and handed sentences of one and five years respectively for allegedly poaching Chinkaras in two separate instances.
Khan has already served time in the Jodhpur jail twice – in April 2006 and August 2007.
Later, the Rajasthan High Court suspended his sentence in 2007.
Salman Khan Blackbuck poaching case: Jodhpur Court defers hearing in the case till January 27.
— ANI (@ANI_news) January 25, 2017
Last week, in what was a major relief to Bollywood actor Salman Khan a Jodhpur court announced its verdict in the Arms Act on illegal possession of arms and ammunition and acquitted him after over 19 years of fighting the legal battle.
Salman was let off by the court in the arms act case because of lack of evidence. Out of the four cases filed against him.
Below is the list of important dates in this case:
September 26, 1998: Salman Khan was accused of hunting two Chinkaras at Bhawad in Mathania near Jodhpur. Five Bollywood actors Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendra, Tabu and Neelam who were then shooting for the film Hum Saath Saath Hain were seen hunting two blackbucks
September 28, 1998: Salman Khan was also accused of hunting another Chinkara at Ghoda farms two days later while he was in Jodhpur filming for Hum Saath Saath Hain.
October 2, 1998: Bishnoi community lodged a police complaint against Salman Khan and four others involved in the killing of blackbucks.
October 12, 1998: Salman Khan was arrested and released on bail in the next five days.
April 10, 2006: Salman was convicted in the black buck hunting case by one of the trial courts under the Act of Wildlife Protection Act wherein he was fined for Rs 5,000 along with five years of jail.
August 24, 2007: The Session Court upheld the conviction and dismissed the appeal of the actor.
August 31, 2007: The Rajasthan High Court suspended the sentence; however, it ordered the actor not to leave India without taking a formal permission. Salman was sentenced to five years in prison by the Rajasthan High Court for hunting a blackbuck during the shooting of Hum Saath Saath Hain. He spent six days in Jodhpur Central Jail before his sentence was suspended. Later, the High Court dropped charges under Arms Act against him on his appeal.
December 2012: The Rajasthan High Court had revised the charges against the actor. In the fresh charges, Salman was charged with Section 9/51 of the Wildlife Protection Act.
August 2013: Salman Khan was denied a visa for the UK owing to the conviction charges.
November 13, 2013: Rajasthan High Court stayed the sentence of the actor, which gave Salman an opportunity to get the UK visa for the shooting.
November 2014: The Rajasthan government approached the Supreme Court against the decision of High Court in connection with the blackbuck case allowing him to get the UK Visa.
November 5, 2014: Salman Khan requested his appeal in SC asking the court to help him apply for the visa since it will affect his shooting schedules. Later the apex court comprising of justice S.J. Mukhopadhyay and Justice A.K. Goel were seen reserving its order claiming that his conviction cannot be stayed simply because it is seen coming in the way of finding a British Visa.
December 19, 2014: The actor’s please to call DCP and DM of Mumbai city as his witness regarding the expiry of the license of the arms, which he used in the alleged poaching case.
July 25, 2016: Actor Salman Khan has been acquitted by the Rajasthan High Court in the 1998 chinkara poaching case.
October 19, 2016: The Rajasthan Government contended in the Supreme Court that Salman Khan should be ordered to surrender and asked to go back to jail in two 18-year-old Chinkara poaching cases.
