Blackbuck poaching: No evidence against Salman, says counsel

Jodhpur: Salman Khan's counsel today said there were no direct evidences against the actor that he carried arms with expired license during the alleged blackbuck poaching at the nearby Kankani village in 1998. Salman's counsel Hastimal Saraswat today claimed at the ACJM (Jodhpur District) court that the case against the actor is nothing but a sheaf of untruth, which has miserably failed to count some very important facts.

"During the arguments, the officer could not give any satisfactory and conclusive replies to some very important questions I had raised," Saraswat said. It may be recalled that a separate case had been registered against Salman by the forest department on October 15, 1998 under the Arms Act mentioning that the licences of the arms in the actor's possession during the alleged blackbuck poaching had expired and hence he had been using
them illegally.

"Upon this complaint, the Luni police had registered a case against the actor under sections 3/25 and 27 of Arms Act," Saraswat said. Meanwhile, magistrate Chandra Kala Jain deferred the trial of the final witness of prosecution in the Arms Act against Salman in the case till January 15.The then Additional SP and Investigating Officer Ashok Patni, who is the final witness among 16 others, appeared at the trial began today at the ACJM (Jodhpur District) court.

The trial resumed in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (Jodhpur District) on May 25 this year, seven years after the Rajasthan High Court rejected the revision petition, filed by the state government in 2006. Besides Salman, actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam were accused of poaching two Blackbucks in the intervening night of October 1 and 2, 1998 in Kankani village near Jodhpur during the shooting of the film 'Hum Saath Saath Hain'.

It may be recalled that the High Court had revised the charges against the actors in December 2012. In the fresh charges, Salman was charged with Section 9/51 of the Wildlife Protection Act and others including a local accused Dushyant Singh with sections 9/51, 9//52 of the same Act and section 149 of IPC. Blackbuck is a protected animal and hunting or poaching of the same is a punishable offence under law.

PTI