A court in Jodhpur on Saturday framed revised charges against actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre in a 14-year-old case of poaching two black bucks. All the actors, who were present in court, denied the charges and pled innocent.
Bollywood star Salman Khan could not appear before the court citing heath grounds and was exempted from personal appearance after his lawyers filed a plea saying he was in the US for treatment.
The court of the chief judicial magistrate [rural] read out the fresh charges under Sections 9/51 and 9/52 of the Wildlife Protection Act and IPC Sec. 149 and posted the case for its next hearing on April 27. Salman Khan’s lawyers said such charges had been read out against him in the past and he had denied the charges.
According to the prosecution, the poaching of black bucks occurred in the intervening night of October 1 and 2, 1998, near Kankani village in Jodhpur district. The prosecution said the actors killed two black bucks when they were camping in Jodhpur for the shooting of the Hindi film Ham Saath Saath Hain.
“Since it took so long to begin the trial we will ask for an early hearing,” said Mahipal Bishnoi, a lawyer pleading the case of the Bishnoi community.
The charges of poaching were framed by the local court on February 20, 2006, when the trial of the case began.
Salman Khan was charged under Section 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act, Sec. 27 of the Arms Act and Sec. 148 of the Indian Penal Code.
The others — Saif, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali — had been charged under Sections 51 and 52 of the Wildlife Protection Act and Sections 147 and 149 of the IPC.
But this had been challenged and the actors had filed a revision petition before the sessions court.