The blackbuck poaching case in which Salman Khan was pronounced guilty but his fellow actors including Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam, Sonali Bendre, and Dushyant Singh were acquitted is far from over. The Rajasthan government will be appealing against the acquittal of these actors and Singh who is a resident of Jodhpur in the blackbuck poaching case that dates back to 1998. The five accused were acquitted by the court of the chief judicial magistrate (Jodhpur Rural) in April this year but looks like their troubles are far from over.
The Court in its judgment on April 5, found only Salman guilty of killing two blackbucks in Kankani village, near Jodhpur. The incident occurred on October 1998 when the actors were filming Sooraj Barjatya’s Hum Saath Saath Hain. Salman was sentenced to five years imprisonment along with a monetary fine of Rs 10,000. However, he is out on bail. Previously the actor was also barred from travelling abroad but now that order has been lifted.
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A leading daily quoted the additional advocate general SK Vyas, “A few days back, we received the sanction from the state government to appeal against the acquittal of Khan, Tabu, Neelam, Bendre, and Singh. After the verdict, the public prosecutor of the trial court had given his opinion to the law department whether an appeal should be filed. The law department and the state government considered all the facts and they have given sanction for filing an appeal. The sanction came recently and we will be filing the appeal at the Rajasthan High Court.”
Apparently, the officials have also asked that along with the four actors, the appeal will request that Dinesh Gawre who was also charged in the case but has been absconding for a long time be tried as an accused in the blackbuck poaching case.