After being acquitted by a court in Jodhpur, Bollywood actor Salman Khan thanked his fans on Twitter. "Thank you for all the support and good wishes, Salman tweeted.
The Sultan actor was acquitted today after being given the benefit of doubt in the Arms Act case, which is related to the Blackbuck case. Salman came to the court with his sister Alvira Agnihotri.
The case had reached the stage of judgement earlier on February 25, 2014 but sudden appearance of an undecided prosecution application before the trial court, moved by the then prosecution counsel in 2006 put off the verdict for two flat years.
Besides the cases of poaching of endangered antelopes under Wildlife (Protection) Act, a case under sections 3/25 and 3/27 of the Arms Act was filed against Khan for allegedly keeping and using the fire arms with expired licence in the poaching of blackbucks in Kankani near Jodhpur on October 1-2, 1998.
In the trail, CJM DS Rajpurohit claimed that the prosecution’s proof against Salman was not enough in the 18-year-old case. Post verdict, Salman’s lawyer HS Saraswat said, “Justice has won.”
Over the years, Salman Khan has faced multiple cases for allegedly killing two endangered chinkaras and two blackbucks during a location shoot in 1998 for the film "Hum Saath Saath Hain", co-starring Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Neelam and Tabu.
Salman Khan had earlier been cleared by the Rajasthan High Court in two cases related to the killing of the chinkara deer. That decision, which overturned two jail terms handed to the actor by a lower court, has been challenged by Rajasthan before the Supreme Court.
Another case involving the alleged poaching of blackbuck is still being heard. The four other actors have been asked to appear in court on January 25 to record their statements in the case.
