Jodhpur Court to pronounce decision on Salman’s bail on Saturday
JODHPUR : A Sessions Court in Jodhpur will pronounce on Saturday its order on the bail application of actor Salman Khan, who was sentenced to five years in jail in a blackbuck poaching case.
According to sources, the star is depressed and even skipped his dinner. Says a source, “First, Salman’s medical examination was done. While his blood pressure was normal, his mental state was disturbed. He is lodged in the cell next to Asaram Bapu. Once inside, he couldn’t control himself and broke down.
“Dinner, which consists of daal and roti, had been served to him but he did not touch it. He seems to be depressed and lost in thought. One assumes that he will be shattered if he doesn’t get bail tomorrow,” he added.
The source adds, “He wasn’t expecting anything like this at all, and it has been a huge shock. Salman has been kept away from the other prisoners, as the authorities don’t want any untoward incident to happen. In Jodhpur, hironon (deers) ko devta maana jata hai.”
The court heard arguments on suspension of the sentence on Friday and summoned records from the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court, which had handed down the punishment on Thursday.
Lawyers representing Khan, who is lodged in the Central Jail in Jodhpur, appeared before Additional Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Joshi and sought the actor’s release on bail, while also filing the petition for suspension of his sentence and appeal against the magistrate’s judgment.Following the a
djournment of proceedings, Khan, 52, will be spending another night behind bar.Defence counsel Mahesh Bora argued that the circumstances of the alleged poaching incident in 1998, relied upon by the lower court, had been discarded by the Rajasthan High Court, which had acquitted him in two other related cases. He also contended that the evidence of witnesses was not reliable.
The prosecution will make its arguments on Saturday after the Sessions Court peruses the lower court’s record.The Chief Judicial Magistrate had acquitted film actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Ben
dre, giving them benefit of doubt.The case pertains to the killing of two endangered blackbucks in Kankani village, near Jodhpur, on the night of October 1-2, 1998, when Khan and other actors were shooting for Hindi film Hum Saath Saath Hain. The blackbuck is a species of antelope protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
