Blackbuck, Hit & Run Cases: Legal woes of Salman piling on

Mumbai, March 23: Bollywood films are known to promote the theory of good prevailing over evil. Now, it is the turn of "real" to imitate the "reel". After actor Sanjay Dutt, it the turn of Salman Khan to prepare himself to face the law for "crimes" committed by him.

The Supreme Court on Thursday, March 21 upheld actor Dutt's conviction under the Arms Act, but reduced his sentence from six to five years in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.

On Saturday, March 23 a Jodhpur court framed fresh charges against four of the accused and Salman's film industry colleagues in the 14-year-old-long Blackbuck poaching case. The court of chief judicial magistrate, Jodhpur, Saturday read out charges against four Bollywood stars -- Tabu, Sonali Bendre, Neelam and Saif Ali Khan.

However, the court stopped itself from reading the charges against Salman, the main accused of the case, as he was not present in the court.

Earlier, Salman got exemption from appearing in the court on the ground that he had to be out of the country for medical treatment.

"Salman Khan was not present in the court today (Saturday) as he in not in the country and has gone overseas for treatment," Hastimal Saraswat, Salman Khan's counsel, said. The next court hearing on charges against Salman will be held on April 27.

The charges against the accused have been framed under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 relating to hunting and inciting to poach blackbucks, an endangered species.

The actors are likely to face imprisonment of up to six years if they are sentenced guilty by the court.

Moreoevr, Salman will appear in person before a Sessions Court in Mumbai in the 2002 hit-and-run case on March 25. The 47-year-old actor will return from the USA on Saturday (March 23) night to appear before the Court on Monday (March 25).

On the fateful night of September 28, 2002, the actor allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol had run over his Toyota Land Cruiser on homeless people who were sleeping on the pavement. In the accident one person was killed and four were injured.

OneIndia News