Jodhpur: Bollywood actor Salman Khan was on Monday acquitted in two 18-year old chinkara poaching cases by the Rajasthan High Court in Jodhpur.
The court held that the pellets recovered from the animals were not fired from Khan's licenced gun. The driver of the jeep that was used by Khan and his co-stars on their alleged hunting mission has been missing, weakening the prosecution's case against the movie star.
Khan, 50, was jailed in 2007 for nearly a week in the chinkara case.
"When the court asked for the bullets recovered it was proved that they were not fired from that gun,” Khan's lawyer Hasthimal Saraswat said.
The actor was not present in court when the verdict was pronounced.
Two separate cases had been registered against Khan under section 51 of Wildlife Protection Act for poaching of two chinkaras in village Bhawad on 26-27 September, 1998 and one chinkara in Mathania (Ghoda Farm) on 28-29 September, 1998.
The trial court (CJM) had convicted him in both the cases sentencing him to one year and 5 year imprisonment on February 17, 2006 and April 10, 2006 respectively.
The Rajasthan government can go in appeal against the verdict , so can the local Bishnoi community which has been fighting the case.
"We can go to the SC against this verdict," community leader Mahipal Bishnoi said.
Since he has been acquitted of all charges by the High court, the appeal before the SC will have to be a strong one.
Khan's acquittal in the Mumbai hit-and-run case and the poaching cases are nearly identical. In both cases, he was sentenced by the trial courts and acquitted in the High Court.
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