SALMAN KHAN got a one-year prison term and was fined Rs 5000 in the seven-year-old Bhawad poaching case on Friday. The Bollywood actor was found guilty of killing two black bucks and was awarded the minimum punishment under section 51 of the Wild Life Protection Act.
The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate of Jodhpur Vijendra Kumar acquitted all the seven other co-accused in the case, including actor Satish Shah, who were present in the court.
Salman's lawyers immediately moved for bail. The actor's sentence was suspended for 30 days to allow him to appeal to the Sessions court.
Witnesses said Salman offered no reaction while the sentence was read out.
Outside the courtroom, his fans objected to the verdict and created a disturbance chanting "Salman Amar Rahe" and "Salman, Hum Saath-Saath Hain".
Police caned the mob amid tension when some Bishnoi community members celebrated the verdict chanting "Satyamev Jayate".
Salman left for Mumbai soon after the verdict. Satish Shah said he was relieved that the case was over. "I have been making rounds of this court for the past eight years. I am very happy that I have been acquitted," he said.
Shortly after the judgment, Salman's counsel HM Saraswat said the Court had ignored the basic doctrine of the law that probabilities must be taken in favour of the accused. "It is beyond any probability that Salman, all alone, went to the forest and committed all this," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Shortly after the judgment, Salman's counsel HM Saraswat said the Court had ignored the basic doctrine of the law that probabilities must be taken in favour of the accused. "It is beyond any probability that Salman, all alone, went to the forest and committed all this," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Another lawyer Dipesh Mehta said Salman "is innocent. His stand has always been that he did not kill any black buck and he was wrongly implicated." Mehta said Khan was "disappointed and disturbed that he has been sentenced when he is innocent". Besides Shah, the others acquitted on Friday were Kuldeep Singh, Mohd Hussain, Yashpal Singh, Mahendra Pal Singh alias Rajubana, Dushyant Singh and MS Bhati.
Salman's co-accused in other poaching cases include film stars Saif Ali Khan, Neelam, Tabu and Sonali Bendre. The court has summoned them all on February 20 to frame charges.