There were two possibilities before the verdict was announced, reports The Times of India according to TimesNow. Jodhpur Court handed the Bollywood hero one year and five years imprisonment in poaching cases earlier.
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High Court judge Nirmaljit Kaur cleared the actor in both cases, ruling that the pellets recovered from the animals were not fired from Salman’s gun. Actually, the incident had taken place at Bhawad near Jodhpur in September 1998, during the shooting for the film Hum Saath Saath Hain. Apart from Salman Khan, actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam were also charged in the poaching case. “Don’t tell me it was Bhai’s driver again!”, tweeted one user, referring to Khan’s 2002 case in which his vehicle drove over a pavement dweller, who died.
In its reply, the prosecution counsel K L Thakur had argued that Dulani was present in the court twice but the defence did not examine him.
Last year, the Bombay High Court acquitted him in a hit-and-run case in which he was accused of running over a homeless man in an inebriated condition.
Salman’s lawyer, Hastimal Saraswat said he has never visited Khan’s home in Mumbai, but added that he attended Salman’s sister Arpita’s wedding in November 2014.
The Rajasthan government can go in appeal against the verdict, so can the local Bishnoi community which has been fighting the case. Khan challenged the verdict in a higher court, which has now overturned his previous convictions.
His recent rape comment during the promotions of his film Sultan rubbed India’s National Commission for Women (NCW) the wrong way.
But as of now, the superstar is at least free from the poaching case that has haunted him for nearly two decades now.
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Arpita posted, “Thank you god for always showering us with your grace and blessings”. Today is a big day for us. After which Salman Khan took to his social media account and he said “Thank you for your prayers and support”.
