Blackbuck case: Saif Ali Khan, Tabu and Sonali Bendre were acquitted in the case.
The Rajasthan government will be appealing against the acquittal of actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre, and Dushyant Singh, a resident of Jodhpur, in the blackbuck poaching case dating back to 1998.
All the five accused in the case were acquitted by the court of chief judicial magistrate (Jodhpur Rural) in April this year.
In its judgment on April 5, the court had found actor Salman Khan guilty of killing two blackbucks in Kankani village, near Jodhpur, on October 1998 and sentenced him to five years imprisonment along with a monetary fine of Rs. 10,000.
Khan was convicted under Section 9/51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act. After the verdict, Khan was taken to the Jodhpur Central Jail, where he spent two days before he was granted bail.
“A few days back, we received the sanction from the state government to appeal against the acquittal of Khan, Tabu, Neelam, Bendre and Singh. After the verdict, the public prosecutor of the trial court had given his opinion to the law department whether an appeal should be filed,” additional advocate general SK Vyas told The Indian Express on Saturday.
He added that the appeal against the acquittal will be filed at the Rajasthan High Court.
“The law department and the state government considered all the facts and they have given sanction for filing an appeal. The sanction came recently and we will be filing the appeal at the Rajasthan High Court,” said Vyas.
Officials said that along with the five, the appeal will request that Dinesh Gawre, who was also charged in the case and is missing for a long time, be tried as an accused.