Will Salman Khan get relief in Arms Act, Black Buck case?

Bollywood actor Salman Khan leaves the court after getting an interim 2 days bail by the High Court in the 2002 hit-and-run case in Mumbai on Wednesday. (Source: PTI)

Actor Salman Khan is likely to have little respite in Rajasthan where two cases of poaching and illegal use of arms and appeals in two other poaching cases against conviction are pending.

Salman 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 Arms Act with the local police alleging that licenses of the weapons used by him had expired and thereby making the use illegal. Salman Khan has argued in court that he had applied for a renewal of licence for the weapons soon after it expired and hence was not using them illegally.

In the pending black buck poaching case, which is slated to be heard next on May 28, the inquiry officer Lalit Bohra is being cross examined while in the arms act, the prosecution called for introducing four new witnesses. Last month, local court in Jodhpur was set to pronounce its verdict when in a dramatic turn of events the prosecution sought introduction of new witnesses. Subsequently, the defence counsel has also filed a revision petition to recall six witnesses for cross questioning that is up for hearing on May 14. The cases are being heard by the chief judicial magistrate in Jodhpur.

In the two chinkara poaching cases, Salman has already been sentenced to five and one year in prison, respectively. In both the cases, Khan is out on bail and appeals are pending in the High Court for hearing in due course.

Source:: Indian Express