Actor Salman Khan Convicted and sentenced to five years in jail
JODHPUR : A Jodhpur court has sentenced Bollywood superstar Salman Khan to five-year jail term in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case, while other actors — Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam Kothari — have been acquitted.
The Bishnoi Sabha, a community committed to protect the blackbucks, has decided to appeal against other acquittals. Salman Khan was accused of killing two blackbucks in Bhagoda ki Dhani in Kankani village near Jodhpur on the intervening night of October 1-2, 1998, during the shooting of Hum Saath Saath Hain. He has been convicted under Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, which carries maximum punishment of six years and minimum one-year jail term.
Chief Judicial Magistrate (Jodhpur Rural) also imposed a fine of Rs. 10,000 on Khan. The actor was taken to the Central Jail in Jodhpur from the court. However, Salman does have legal recourse to opt out of jail if the judiciary agrees to his submissions.
Reportedly, the actor was in tears when the judge announced his 5-year jail term. The actor’s sisters, Arpita Khan Sharma and Alvira were constantly by his side when the judgement was announced. The sisters broke down when he was convicted in the case.
Salman and his sisters got extremely emotional and hugged each other for a long time, reportedly. Also, just when the verdict was announced, his sister Alvira gave an anti-depressant medicine to the star, reportedly. The actor has a strong bond with his family members who have been with him through thick and thin.
He has the option of filing an appeal in the Sessions Court. Unless the sentence is suspended, he will spend the night in jail.Khan has applied for bail in the Sessions Court, which will take up the plea at 10:30am on Friday. He can also appeal against his conviction in the Rajasthan High Court.
The bail can be sought on the basis of continuous cooperation or the enormous amount of financial investments involved in his upcoming movies. Almost Rs 500 crore is at stake if his movies Race 3 and others are shelved at this point of time.
Khan is involved in four cases related to blackbuck/chinkara poaching. He has been accused of killing two chinkaras at Bhavad village in Rajasthan in September 1998, a chinkara at the Ghoda farms in the State the next month and two blackbucks near Kankani village in the State in the same month.
In addition, he is also accused of using two firearms with alleged expired licences.The co-accused, actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam, and Jodhpur resident Dushyant Singh have been given the benefit of doubt and acquitted as the evidence against them was not strong enough.
Public prosecutor Bhawani Singh said he would speak to the government on the acquittal of other actors and decide on filing appeals in the Sessions Court.Khan has been convicted under Section 9 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act. The maximum sentence under the law is six years.
The charge against the other actors was under Section 149 (unlawful assembly) of the IPC. Their acquittal means the court has accepted that there is no sufficient evidence to prove this.
There was tight security on the court premises. Only lawyers were allowed inside the court. Court proceedings began at 11.15 a.m.A huge crowd gathered outside the court building to have a glimpse of the actors.Besides the local police, emergency response teams were deployed outside the court. Rooftop snipers were also deployed.
Actor Salman Khan arrived in the court, followed by Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Sonali Bendre and Tabu.After the hearing began, Khan presented pre-order bail bonds, which he had prepared in advance.(with Agency Inputs).
