JAIPUR: The Rajasthan government has challenged the acquittal of Bollywood actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam, and Sonali Bendre in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case, in which superstar Salman Khan was convicted in 2018. The matter was heard on Friday in the Rajasthan High Court, where a plea for leave to appeal was taken up.
Justice Manoj Kumar Garg directed that the case be listed along with other related matters. According to Advocate Mahipal Vishnoi, the incident occurred on 1 October 1998, during the shooting of the film Hum Saath-Saath Hain in Kankani village near Jodhpur.
It was alleged that the actors, led by Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, had hunted blackbucks, a protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act.
On 5 April 2018, the trial court convicted actor Salman Khan and sentenced him to five years in prison. However, co-accused Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam, Sonali Bendre, and a local man, Dushyant Singh, were acquitted due to lack of evidence and were given the benefit of the doubt.
In its petition, the state government has sought permission to transfer related matters and include Salman Khan's conviction as part of the broader appeal—over seven years after the verdict was delivered in a Jodhpur court. The High Court has scheduled the next hearing for 28 July, when all related cases will be heard together.
Following his conviction in April 2018, Salman Khan was sent to Jodhpur Central Jail. However, on 7 April 2018, the District and Sessions Court granted him conditional bail on a surety of Rs 50,000, and he was released the same day. Currently, he remains out on bail, while the case continues to be pending before the High Court.
In 1998, a total of five cases were registered against actor Salman Khan and his co-stars, including Sonali Bendre, Tabu, Saif Ali Khan, Satish Shah, and some locals of Jodhpur, for allegedly hunting two blackbucks and one chinkara during the shooting of the film Hum Saath-Saath Hain.
In the Kankani Village case, on 5 April 2018, Salman Khan was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison. He was sent to Jodhpur Central Jail.
However, on 7 April 2018, the District and Sessions Court granted him conditional bail on a surety of Rs 50,000, and he was released the same day. He is currently out on bail, and the matter remains pending in the Rajasthan High Court.
In the Ghoda Farmhouse case, the CJM Court in Jodhpur sentenced Salman Khan to five years in prison on 10 April 2006. He challenged the verdict in the High Court, which acquitted him on 25 July 2016. The Rajasthan government appealed the acquittal in the Supreme Court, where the matter is still pending.
In the Bhavad Village case, on 17 February 2006, the CJM Court convicted Salman Khan and sentenced him to one year in prison. The High Court later acquitted him. The state government filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, and the case is still under consideration.
In the Arms Act case, on 18 January 2017, Salman Khan was acquitted in a case filed under the Arms Act. The state government challenged the acquittal in the High Court, and the matter is still pending.
In all these multiple cases, the other actors and actresses have so far escaped any conviction or penalties. But with the Rajasthan government once again pleading in court, troubles for the Bollywood stars could mount, nearly 27 years after the alleged poaching scandals!
