A Jodhpur court has convicted Bollywood superstar Salman Khan in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case, while other actors have been acquitted. The court has sentenced him to 5 years of imprisonment with Rs.10,000 fine. He will be sent to jail soon. Khan was accused of killing two blackbucks in Bhagoda ki Dhani in Kankani village near Jodhpur on the intervening night of October 1-2, 1998.
After a long discussion with the lawyers, the court has sentenced Salman to 2 years of imprisonment. Salman Khan was charged under Section 9 read with Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 along with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code. Section 9 prohibits the hunting of certain animals listed in the Act. A black buck is one of the animals protected by it. Section 51 allows the court to sentence those found guilty to imprisonment between one to six years along with a fine of at least Rs 5,000.
According to the reports, there were 28 witnesses in the case. On 2 October 1998, Khan allegedly hunted two black bucks. His co-stars Tabu, Sonali Bendre, Neelam and Saif Ali Khan are co-accused in the case and court has set them free.
In an interview in 2009, actor Salman Khan had claimed that the group had come across the herd of deer when they were returning after pack-up while shooting Hum Saath Saath Hain. He said, "We saw deer fawn, stuck in a bush. The whole herd was there. He (fawn) was petrified. I took him out of there, gave him some water. The whole pack was there. He ate a few biscuits and then went away".