Sallu to turn up for daily hearing of Blackbuck case?

Jodhpur, Aug 10: The Rajasthan Court has ordered Bollywood actor Salman Khan to remain present during the day-to-day hearing of the proceedings following Khan's appeal challenging the one year jail term awarded to him in the 1998 black bucks killing case.

Khan was found guilty under the Wildlife Protection Act on charges of killing black bucks in 1998. He was found guilty of killing two blackbucks, a protected species of antelope. Khan has reportedly maintained his innocence.

District and Sessions Judge BL Sharma directed the counsel of Khan to ensure that he appears in court on that day. Though Khan's lawyers contended that it is not mandatory that the petitioner be present in the court during hearing of appeal, the judge said that since it is a matter of sentence suspension, the accused has to be present in the court during the hearing on his appeal.

Khan had filed the appeal on March 9, 2006 challenging his conviction under the Wild Life Protection Act by the Chief Judicial Magistrate on February 17, 2006 in the case of poaching of two black bucks in Bhawad near here on September 26, 1998 during the shooting of the film 'Hum Saath Saath Hain'.

The appellate court suspended the sentence on March 10, 2006 but before the hearing on the appeal could progress, the state government filed a revision petition in the high court terming the sentence as inadequate and challenging the acquittal of others. Following this, the case documents were sent to the high court, leading to the delay in the hearing.

OneIndia News