Bollywood star Salman Khan, accused in the blackbuck hunting case, got a breather from the Rajasthan High Court on Monday as it accepted his plea urging that it hear the three petitions related to the case, instead of the Sessions Court. Salman had filed a petition in the Sessions Court to transfer the pending appeal to the High Court, and this was accepted on Monday.
As per the latest update, the Rajasthan High Court has allowed the transfer petition of the case. This means all the pleas relating to the actor and the poaching case will now be heard in the High Court.
Public prosecutor Gaurav Singh had no objection to these cases being heard in the High Court.
Soon after, Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati issued an order to hear all the cases in the High Court itself. Salman's sister Alvira was also present in the court during the hearing on Monday. Salman's lawyer Hastimal Saraswat said that this comes as a big relief for him.
The trial court convicted Salman Khan and sentenced him to 5 years imprisonment in a blackbuck hunting case reported in the outskirts of Kankani village.
However, he was acquitted in the Arms Act case, but the state government appealed against this in the Sessions Court.
The state government, in fact, has also filed a petition in the High Court against the acquittal of Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Tabu, and Sonali Bendre in the blackbuck poaching case.
For the unversed, Salman Khan is accused of killing two blackbucks in Bhagoda ki Dhani located in Kankani village near Jodhpur during the shoot of Hum Saath Saath Hain in 1998.
Salman was charged under section 9/51 of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Not just Salman, but his co-actors at the time Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Neelam and Tabu were also charged under Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and under Section 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code.