The Rajasthan High Court has found Salman Khan not guilty in the black buck and chinkara poaching cases of 1998. The court said there is no evidence to prove that the animals, which were found dead, were shot by Salman’s licensed gun. The Bollywood actor had appealed to the court in 2006, after a lower court found him guilty, sentencing him to one and five years in jail for the two cases.
The high court had completed hearing the cases in May, but had reserved its verdict. Khan was not present during the verdict.
The state government will decide whether to challenge the High Court’s verdict in the Supreme Court. “We will study the court order today and then the forest department along with the law and home departments will decide on the appeal in this case,” Raj Kumar Rinwa, state forests and environment minister, reportedly said.
Khan and seven others were accused of killing a black buck and a chinkara in two separate incidents on the outskirts of Kankani village near Jodhpur. Two separate cases were registered under section 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act. Khan was shooting ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ in Jodhpur when the incidents took place.
The Twitterati is at it again following the verdict, with users coming to out with possible reasons for the black buck’s death: Salman’s driver killed the black buck or just simply, “no one killed the black buck”.
In 2015, Salman was acquitted by the Mumbai High Court in connection with a 2002 hit-and-run case—he is accused of running over a homeless man while drunk driving in Mumbai. The Maharashtra government has challenged his acquittal in the apex court.
