Salman acquitted in Arms Act case

Bollywood actor Salman Khan was on Wednesday acquitted by a court here in an Arms Act case in which he is alleged to have killed blackbucks in 1998.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Dalpat Singh Rajpurohit, after completing the hearing on January 9 in the case, had reserved the judgement for Wednesday.

Salman Khan and his sister Alvira were present in the court when it announced the actor not guilty.

Salman Khan and a few other Bollywood actors were accused of poaching blackbucks on the night of October 1, 1998 during the shooting of Hindi movie "Hum Saath Saath Hain".

The actor was also accused of carrying and using illegal arms. A case under the Arms Act was registered against him.

Police had a hard time controlling the actor's supporters in the court premises. Many carried the actor's pictures.

The Rajasthan High Court in July last year had acquitted Salman Khan in another case, also related to the chinkara poaching.

Salman Khan had moved the Jodhpur bench of the High Court, challenging a lower court verdict handing him a one and a five-year term in two separate cases of poaching.

He was held guilty by the lower court and sentenced in 2006.

Salman Khan and the state government challenged the lower court verdict on various grounds.

In July 2016, the High Court, while allowing the appeal of Salman Khan, acquitted him from all the charges and also dismissed the appeal filed by the state government to enhance the sentence.

The Rajasthan government filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court against the actor's acquittal.

--IANS

as/mr/py