_1610218813411_1610219010630_1610792828068.JPG "Salman Khan was sentenced to 5-years in prison by a Jodhpur trial court in 2018 in a black buck poaching case.(Colors/Representational )")
Blackbuck poaching case: Salman Khan fails to appear in court
- Salman Khan has filed an application before the court seeking exemption from personal appearance in the poaching case.
Bollywood actor Salman Khan failed to appear in the district and session court at Jodhpur during a hearing of an appeal filed by him in the blackbuck poaching case on Saturday. The next date of hearing has been scheduled on February 6.
Salman, through his counsel Hastimal Saraswat, filed an application before the court seeking exemption from personal appearance. The application stated that due to Covid-19 pandemic, it was risky for Salman to appear in the court.
Saraswat, however, told the court that whenever it orders, the appellant will be present in person. In the earlier hearing, the court had directed Salman to appear before it.
Khan has challenged the five-year sentence given to him by the trial court. On April 5, 2018, the chief judicial magistrate had sentenced Khan to five years in jail for killing two blackbucks, an endangered antelope, in 1998.
The CJM court had also fined him ₹10,000, while convicting him under the Wildlife Protection Act. The District and Sessions Court in Jodhpur district suspended the sentence on April 7, 2018, and granted Salman conditional bail.
The state government has filed an appeal against Salman’s acquittal in the case.