Actor Salman Khan was convicted in the blackbuck poaching case by a Jodhpur Court on Thursday. The four other accused – actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam – have been acquitted in the case related to the killing of blackbucks at a village in Jodhpur on 2 October 1998.
While the quantum of sentence is yet to be announced, the actor has been convicted under Section 51 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
The court will decide on the quantum of punishment, which may range from three years to six years. If he is convicted for more than three years, he will have to move a sessions court for bail.
The five Bollywood actors had reached Jodhpur on Wednesday night to attend the hearing on Thursday in the court of chief judicial magistrate (Jodhpur Rural), which put a closure, for the time being, on the case that has been pending for 20 years.
On 28 March, Judge Dev Kumar Khatri reserved the order after the final arguments were heard.
The actors were in Jodhpur at the time of the incident for the shooting of ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’.
For the past 20 years, the two witnesses from the Bishnoi community – which reveres the blackbuck – have maintained that Salman killed the blackbucks.
The actor has spent a week in jail after he was convicted in 2006 in a separate case related to the killing of Chinkara deer and sentenced to five years in prison. His sentence was suspended by the Rajasthan High Court.
The Rajasthan government has challenged the verdict in the Chinkara deer case in the Supreme Court.
The actor was previously acquitted in one other poaching case involving a Chinkara deer in Rajasthan.
Separate charges under the Arms Act against the actor for possession of an unlicensed gun were dropped.
Salman is currently one of the industry’s most bankable stars.