Salman Khan Sentenced to 5 Yrs In Jail In Black Buck Poaching Case by Jodhpur Court

SALMAN  Khan, 52, Bollywood super strar, was on Thursday found guilty of 1998 blackbuck poaching case by a Jodhpur court   and fined  INR 10, 000 but the court  acquitted his colleagues Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre, a prosecution lawyer said.Salman has been held guilty of  killing two blackbucks in Kankani village near Jodhpur in October 1998 during the shooting of  the film “Hum Saath Saath Hain”. It was a Bollywood blockbuster directed by Sooraj Barajatya . A fifth person, Dushyant Singh, a local from the area, has also been acquitted, said Mahipal Bishnoi, the prosecution counsel. After the verdict, the actor’s lawyers argued that Salman Khan be placed on probation or given a mild sentence. The maximum punishment for this offence is six years. The blackbuck is an endangered species, protected under the Indian Wildlife Act. Salman was the main accused in the killing of two black bucks in 1998. Actors Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam arrived in the Jodhpur court the verdict was pronounced. Salman Khan’s sisters Alvira and Arpita were also in court.Final arguments of the case were completed in the trial court on March 28, after which Chief Judicial Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri had reserved his judgment.Salman has been charged under Section 9/51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.All the actors were in a Gypsy car on the night of October 1, 1998 that was being driven Salman  Khan. He spotted a herd of blackbucks and killed two of them, the lawyer saisaid. The police filed a case against Salman under sections 325 and 327 of the Arms Act for allegedly possessing and using a 0.22 rifle and a 0.32 revolver to kill two blackbucks in Konkani village in Jodhpur on October 1 and 2, in 1998.He was acquitted of the charge, 17 years later, on January 18, 2017.He had been charged with allegedly killing two endangered chinkaras and two blackbucks on hunts during a location shoot along with Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Neelam and Tabu, in three different cases — one involving blackbucks, and two involving chinkaras.In 2016, the actor was acquitted by the Rajasthan High court in the two cases related to the killing of the chinkaras.In. That verdict was challenged, but he was eventually acquitted. In all, in the three poaching cases against him, Salman Khan had  been to jail twice — in April 2006 and August 2007.In December 2015, the Bombay High Court acquitted Salman of all criminal charges in a hit-and-run case after he was found guilty by a trial court. The lower court had found him guilty of killing a homeless man while driving his SUV during a night out drinking in September 2002.(image courtesy to The Pioneer)