MUMBAI: Thursday, the Supreme court provided partial relief to Bollywood superstar Salman Khan in the 1998 black buck hunting case.
The apex court headed by Justice P. Sathasivam rejected Rajasthan Government’s plea that Salman Khan along with the four others accused should also be tried for rioting under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
As per this decision, the actor will only be tried under the Wildlife Protection Act and not under IPC for rioting. This comes as a partial relief for Salman, who was accused of poaching two black bucks in Kankani village near Jodhpur in October 1998, along with his ‘Hum Saath Saath Hai’ cast Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Tabu and Sonali Bendre.
“The charge under the Wildlife Protection Act has been retained against all the five accused. The Sessions judge discharged them of charge under sections 146 (rioting) and 147 (punishment for rioting) (under the IPC) and the Revision court (HC) also upheld it,” said the Supreme Court bench including justices P Sathasivam, J S Khehar and Vikramajit Sen .
Salman, who had to postpone his scheduled health check up in the U.S. for the hearing of the matter in the Jodhpur Court on 4 February, will surely be eased with the Supreme Court’s latest decision.
Though, Salman’s trip still stands postponed.
Says a source to the Khan family, “Salman underwent a surgery in 2011, in the U.S. to treat trigeminal neuralgia. He was asked to return for a medical check-up in January. He was very keen to get his medical check-up out of the way at the earliest. But now, a court hearing date has come up. So he has decided to postpone the visit for some time. His pain has subsided almost completely, but his family still wants him to go for the check-up.”
Salman Khan confirmed, “Yes, the trip has been postponed for now. I have got my court hearings coming up, so I have to go to Jodhpur. It (the US trip) would be hurried. That’s why I had to push it back till after the court cases. I will make the trip before Sohail’s film starts around February.”
As we had recently reported to you, Sohail Khan’s next is a remake of Telugu hit film ‘Stalin’. There is a debate on what to name the film – Salman’s favorite name ‘Radhe’ or ‘Mental’. We hear that Naseeruddin Shah and Tabu would be sharing screen space with Salman.
For Salman, on the legal front, this year is proving to be quite positive. The Bollywood star was recently also exempted from personal appearance in the Mumbai Court for the hearing of the 2002 hit and run case.
