Salman Khan Arms Act case: Rajasthan HC asks lower court to deliver judgement fast

Salman Khan is accused of poaching three chinkaras and a black buck near Jodhpur in September and early October 1998 during the shooting of a film ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’.

The Rajasthan High Court intervened in the Arms Act case against actor Salman Khan and asked a lower court in Jodhpur to deliver its judgement with no further delay. The lower court had permitted the prosecution to produce four new witnesses in the case. The High Court set March 23 as the next date for hearing.

Last month on the day of pronouncing its final judgement, the lower court had permitted the public prosecution’s appeal to allow 24 new witnesses and some other evidence against Khan. However since all the 24 new witnesses could not be traced, it was decided that four new witnesses will appear before the court but there has been no headway in the hearings so far.

Khan approached the High Court seeking its intervention in the case. Justice Nirmaljeet Kaur ordered a stay in the case and sought a reply from the state government on why the new witnesses are crucial to the case.

Khan is accused of poaching three chinkaras and a black buck near Jodhpur in September and early October 1998 during the shooting of a film ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’. The forest department had then registered a case under the Arms Act with the local police alleging that the licenses of the weapons used by him had expired and thereby making the use illegal. Khan has argued in court that he had applied for a renewal of licencefor the weapons soon after it expired and hence was not using them illegally.

The local court in Jodhpur could sentence Khan to between three to seven years in jail if found guilty. However he could be granted bail immediately.

Source:: Indian Express