Rajasthan High Court acquits Salman Khan in Chinkara poaching cases

Actor Salman Khan won a major reprieve with the Rajasthan high court on Monday acquitted him in two 18-year-old cases involving the shooting and killing of chinkaras (Indian gazelle), an endangered animal protected under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.

Khan had filed an appeal in the high court after the sessions court failed to provide him any relief against the trial court’s decision sentencing him to one year and five years’ imprisonment in two separate cases of killing chinkaras.

Khan’s sister, Ms Alvira Khan Agnihotri, was present in court when Justice Nirmaljit Kaur cleared him in both cases, dismissing three petitions filed by the state government seeking an increase in his sentence.

Seven months ago the Mumbai high court had overturned the trial court’s verdict and had acquitted him of all criminal charges in the hit-and-run case in which he had been accused of running over a labourer sleeping on a sidewalk in Bandra in 2002.

“The honourable high court has not agreed with the prosecution evidence or its documents in both the cases. When the court asked for the bullets recovered, it was proved that they were not fired from that gun,” said Mr Hasthimal Saraswat, one of the defence counsels.

The high court also found merit in defence counsel Mahesh Bora’s contention that Khan had been falsely implicated in these cases merely on the statements of key witness Harish Dulani, the driver of the vehicle allegedly used in both cases.

Mr Bora argued that Mr Dulani had never been available to them for cross-examination and hence his statements could not be relied upon to convict Khan. He also argued that both cases had been built on circumstantial evidence and there was no witness or any material evidence against Khan.

The defence also argued that the pellets had been planted since they were not found in the vehicle during the forest department’s inspection but were surprisingly found by the police later.

It also argued that Salman Khan was not in possession of the weapons allegedly used to poach the gazelles and had been brought to Jodhpur from Mumbai only on demand by the forest department.

What also weakened the prosecution’s case was that 10 of a total 12 accused had already received the benefit of doubt. The prosecution had no satisfactory answer to why the state government had not filed appeals to make these people accused once again, as it did in the case of the 11th accused, Mr Gordhan Singh, but all the while insisted on harsher punishment for Khan.

However, the actor is not out of the woods yet. There are two other ongoing cases against him in court in Jodhpur, one under the Arms Act and another for allegedly poaching a blackbuck in Kakani village. Monday’s verdict, however, has boosted his chances of acquittal in these cases too.

The state government, meanwhile, indicated that it would appeal against the high court verdict. The Bishnoi community, which reveres the animal and is the original complainant in the case, may also challenge the decision. “We can go to the Supreme Court against this verdict,” said Mahipal Bishnoi, the lawyer for the community.