Blackbuck Poaching Case LIVE: Salman Khan Convicted, Quantum to be Out Shortly; Saif, Other Actors Acquitted

NS Solanki, the advocate of co-accused Dushyant Singh, has been quoted as saying that Salman Khan was cool and calm when the verdict was announced. While the other actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam Kothari, felt happy for their acquittal in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case. 

#BREAKING -- #BlackBuckPoachingCase: #SalmanKhan was cool and calm when the verdict was announced: Co-accused Dushyant Singh's advocate to CNN-News18's @Zebaism #SalmanConvicted LIVE UPDATES: https://t.co/s7Zq16p46C pic.twitter.com/0sjsfYaeQ0

— News18 (@CNNnews18) April 5, 2018

News Agency ANI quotes NS Solanki, the lawyer of co-accused Dushyant Singh, as saying that the argument over the quantum of punishment is still underway and that Salman's lawyers are asking for probation. "Argument on quantum of punishment is on. Salman Khan's counsels are praying for probation," he has said. 

Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act carries maximum punishment of six years and minimum one-year jail term. The prosecution has demanded maximum punishment for Salman Khan. The actor will be taken to Jodhpur Central Jail, which currently houses three high-profile inmates — Asaram Bapu, Malkhan Singh Vishnoi and Shambhu Lal. The latter two are accused in the Bawri Devi case and the Rajasthan hacking case, respectively.

Salman Khan's councel HM Saraswat is arguing over the quantum of punishment yet to be pronounced. Saraswat is asking for an early probation on the grounds that no other case is now pending against the actor. 

Salman Khan has been convicted under Section 9 and Section 51 of Wildlife Protection Act. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced shortly. 

Salman Khan has been convicted in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case by Chief Judicial Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri. Other accused actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam Kothari, however, have been acquitted in the 20-year-old case. The quantum of punishment will be announced shortly.

Also read: Once Upon a Crime: All You Need to Know About the 20-year-old Blackbuck Poaching Case

Salman Khan was accused of killing two blackbucks in Bhagoda ki Dhani in Kankani village near Jodhpur on the intervening night of October 1-2, 1998, during the shooting of Hum Saath Saath Hain.

The hearing in 1998 blackbuck poaching case has begun. The verdict by the Chief Judicial Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri will be delivered shortly. All accused actors Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam Kothari are sitting in the court room along with their counsels. 

All accused actors including Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam Kothari have arrived at the Jodhpur court. The verdict of the 1998 blackbuck poaching case will be pronounced shortly. 

Salman Khan has finally arrived with his body guard Shera at the Jodhpur court for the hearing. The hearing is expected to begin shortly. 

Salman Khan's sisters Arpita Khan Sharma and Alvira Agnihotri have arrived while the actor and his co-actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam Kothari are yet to come. Meanwhile, Salman's lawyer HM Saraswat and Chief Judicial Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri have also arrived. 

If convicted today, Salman Khan and others will be taken to Jodhpur Central Jail, which currently houses three high-profile inmates — Asaram Bapu, Malkhan Singh Vishnoi and Shambhu Lal. The latter two are accused in the Bawri Devi case and the Rajasthan hacking case, respectively.

In an interaction with CNN News18, Remo D'Souza, who is directing Salman Khan's upcoming film Race 3, said that the entire cast and crew is looking forward to the closure of this 20-year-old case with a favourable verdict. "Salman never talks about the case while shooting for his films. Same was the case during Abu Dhabi schedule of Race 3 after which the actor left for the verdict. The unit and everyone associated to his big Eid release are hoping for a closure to this long stretched case with a favourable verdict," he said.

Public Prosecutor Bhawani Singh has been quoted as saying that they will wait for the court's order before commenting. "We shall wait for the court's order. It will be inappropriate for me to say anything now," he says. While Salman Khan is facing charges under Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, the other actors have been charged under Section 51 read with Section 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code. Maximum punishment under Section 51 is six years. All of them were in a Gypsy car that night, with Salman Khan in the driving seat. He, on spotting a herd of black bucks, shot at and killed two of them, Singh had said earlier. "But on being spotted and chased, they fled from the spot leaving the dead animals there," he said, adding that there was adequate evidence against them.

Salman Khan's counsel HM Saraswat has arrived at Jodhpur court while Salman is expected to arrive at 11 am. He had earlier denied the allegations and said there were several loopholes in the prosecution's story and it had failed to prove its case beyond any doubt. "Prosecution has failed to prove the allegations. It engaged in tampering and fabricating evidence and documents as well as roping in fake witnesses to prove its case. It even failed to prove that the black bucks were killed by gunshots. Hence, such investigation cannot be trusted," Saraswat had said. The hearing is expected to begin at 11:15 am. 

Apart from his legal cases, Salman Khan has a host of controversies under his belt. His controversial relationships including the one with Aishwarya Rai, have fuelled his bad boy image. Aishwarya had reportedly accused Salman of physically abusing her in 2002 and a police complaint was filed against the actor. A year later, Salman had a face-off with Aishwarya's then boyfriend Vivek Oberoi. Salman also had a massive ego battle with his then best friend Shah Rukh Khan until a public reunion in 2013. The actor has also come under fire for his brash statements on several occasions.  

Be it #BlackBuckPoachingCase or #HitAndRunCase. Salman has always found a way to be in the news for all the wrong reasons, but despite these obstacles, he continues to be one of the most successful actors in Bollywood & his career has gone from strength to strength #SalmanVerdict pic.twitter.com/mksz9ARY1G

— News18 (@CNNnews18) April 5, 2018

Also read: Controversy's Favourite Child-Salman Khan's Brushes With the Law

Controversies and Salman Khan go hand in hand. From his affairs with B-town's A-list actresses, controversial remarks, to his court cases, the Bollywood superstar has always managed to hit headlines.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri has arrived in court to pronounce the verdict of the 1998 poaching case in which Salman Khan is accused of killing two blackbucks and his co-actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam Kothari of abetting the crime. The final arguments of the case were completed in the trial court on March 28, after which Chief Judicial Magistrate had reserved the judgment for April 5. 

So far, Salman Khan has spent 18 days in the Jodhpur Jail. He was arrested by the Forest Department on October 12, 1998 and court had imprisoned him till October 17. When the trial court had pronounced a five year imprisonment on April 10, 2006, Khan spent six days in jail. When the Sessions Court confirmed the sentence in Ghoda Farm case, Khan remained in jail from August 26 to 31, 2007.

The primary basis of the case will be whether the prosecution was able to prove that Khan and others killed the blackbucks. HM Saraswat, Salman Khan's lawyer has argued that there has been a “false and malicious campaign” to target the actor and that the only weapons in his possession were air rifles, which cannot kill a deer and that the eyewitness statements were botched-up. Khan's lawyer had also shown a video to the court purportedly showing how the witnesses signed on blank papers.

News agency ANI has quoted Saif Ali Khan, Neelam and Sonali Bendre's lawyer as saying that the punishment will be equal in case of conviction and the maximum punishment will land them in jail for six years and the minimum for one year. "If they are found guilty then there is equal punishment for all. Maximum punishment will be for six years and minimum one year," he said. Police personnel have been deployed outside Jodhpur court ahead of the verdict in Blackbuck poaching case. 

There are four cases associated with the poaching incident. Here is a look:
 

Case 1 - Bhawad Chinkara Poaching: On September 27, 1998, Salman Khan allegedly hunted a Chinkara on the border of Bhawad village in the outskirts of Jodhpur.
Status of the Case: On February 17, 2006, the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate sentenced him to one-year rigorous imprisonment. Salman Khan had approached the Rajasthan High Court for quashing of the sentence, bypassing his chance to appeal in immediate higher court of District Judge.
 

Case 2 - Ghoda Farm Poaching Case: On the night of September 28, 1998, Salman Khan allegedly hunted two Chinkaras near Ghoda Farm area in Osian region of Jodhpur. Status of the Case: On April 10, 2006, Salman Khan was sentenced to five years rigorous imprisonment. Khan approached the District Judge against the decision, but his appeal was rejected and the sentence upheld, following which the actor appealed in the High Court with Revision Petition. On July 25, 2017, Judge Nirmaljeet Kaur discharged Salman Khan in both Ghoda Farm and Bhawad Chinkara poaching cases.
 

Case 3 - Arms Act Case: A .32 revolver and .22 rifle was recovered by forest officials and police allegedly from Salman Khan’s hotel room after the poaching cases were registered against him. The weapons were seized on October 15, 1998 while Salman Khan’s arm license had already expired on September 22, 1998. Status of the Case: The court acquitted Salman Khan in January 2017. The Rajasthan government had appealed against the judgment in District Judge Court.
 

Case 4 - Kankani Black Buck Poaching Case: On October 2, 1998, Salman Khan allegedly hunted two blackbucks. His co-stars Tabu, Sonali Bendre, Neelam and Saif Ali Khan are co-accused in the case and face charges of incitement. Status of Case: Trial court to deliver verdict on April 5. The total number of witnesses in the case is 52.

In an interaction with CNN News18, Chougal, an eye-witness, claimed that Salman Khan and other actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam Kothari had arrived for the hunt and it was Salman who fired the gunshot. He added that a deer can't die by falling in a pit and that he continues to stand by his testimony on Salman. He further alleged that Tabu provoked Salman and said, "Ab nazdeek aa gaye hai, goli maardo." 
 

#EXCLUSIVE -- An eye-witness in the #BlackBuckPoachingCase speaks exclusively to CNN-News18, says the actor Tabu provoked Salman Khan to pull the trigger. Listen in! #SalmanVerdict pic.twitter.com/SlYR8EwkMs

— News18 (@CNNnews18) April 5, 2018

Salman Khan, referred to as one of the biggest superstars of Bollywood, has over 3 big-budget films riding on his shoulders- Race 3, Dabangg 3 and Bharat. The actor also has twelve 100 crore films in his kitty and four 300 crore films to his name already. Salman is also set to host the upcoming season of Dus Ka Dum and is currently endorsing over 10 brands.

This, however, is not Salman Khan's first brush with law. The actor was acquitted in two cases, including the 2002 hit and run case and the Arms Act Case, in which he was accused of carrying fire-arms with expired licence during the alleged hunting trip in 1998.

The case also involved two more accused, Dushyant Singh, who was allegedly accompanying the actors when the poaching took place, and Dinesh Gawre, said to be Salman Khan's assistant. However, prosecutor Bhati said that Gawre never appeared in court and was made to disappear by Salman Khan. Had he been around, there could have been more information available in the case, he had said. The final arguments in the case were completed in a Jodhpur rural court on March 28. Chief Judicial Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri had reserved the judgment for April 5 thereafter. 

Salman Khan's counsel HM Saraswat denied the allegations and said there were several loopholes in the prosecution's story and it had failed to prove its case beyond any doubt. Prosecution has failed to prove the allegations. It engaged in tampering and fabricating evidence and documents as well as roping in fake witnesses to prove its case. It even failed to prove that the black bucks were killed by gunshots. Hence, such investigation cannot be trusted," Saraswat  had said.

For the uninitiated, the blackbuck, also known as the Indian antelope, is an antelope found in India, Nepal and Pakistan. The species was given its binomial name by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The blackbuck is an endangered species and is protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Act. Salman and other actors including Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam are accused of killing two black bucks in Bhagoda ki Dhani in Kankani village near Jodhpur on the intervening night of October 1-2, 1998, during the shooting of the popular Hindi film Hum Saath Saath Hain. All of them were in a Gypsy car that night, with Salman Khan in the driving seat. He, on spotting a herd of black bucks, shot at and killed two of them, Public Prosecutor Bhawani Singh Bhati had said earlier. But on being spotted and chased, they fled from the spot leaving the dead animals there," he said, adding that there was adequate evidence against them.

In another incident, actor Tabu was harassed upon her arrival in Jodhpur. According to a report, a fan forcibly made his way into the security guards' circle and misbehaved with the actor. The bouncers, however, immediately pushed him back, steering him clear off Tabu's way. While no official complaint has been filed yet, Tabu seemed to be in a state of shock after the incident. 

Saif Ali Khan, who was photographed at Mumbai airport on Wednesday, misbehaved with his driver upon his arrival in Jodhpur. As reporters gathered outside his car and began to pose questions, an agitated Saif told his driver, "Sheesha upar karo aur reverse kar lo warna padegi ek.

#WATCH: Actor Saif Ali Khan outside Jodhpur Airport says 'sheehsa upar karo aur reverse kar lo warna padegi ek' to his driver when he was being asked questions by reporters. Jodhpur Court will deliver verdict in blackbuck poaching case tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/n6AYIcHgY8

— ANI (@ANI) April 4, 2018