Salman Khan was convicted for shooting and killing blackbucks in Kankani village near Jodhpur on October 1, 1998, during the shooting of ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’.
Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre, and Neelam Kothari Soni were also accused in the Blackbuck Poaching case.
However, apart from Salman, everyone else was acquitted by the trial court on the grounds of the benefit of the doubt.
On April 5 2018, the Dabangg actor was given a 5-year imprisonment sentence by the court, however, he challenged the judgment in the Jodhpur district and sessions court and got it suspended. He was granted bail later on.
Before the nationwide lockdown in March, the court had asked Salman Khan to appear for hearing in the case. However, now, citing the growing Covid-19 crisis as reason, Salman’s lawyer urged the District and Sessions court in Jodhpur to allow the actor to be exempted.
In the application, Khan’s lawyer HS Saraswat appealed that with the ‘rise’ in the coronavirus cases in Mumbai and Jodhpur, it isn’t safe for the actor to travel in such times. He requested the judiciary to grant some relief and allow Salman exemption from court appearance until there’s a visible decline in the COVID cases.
As per NDTV report, on Tuesday, Additional District and Sessions Judge Brajesh Panwar allowed Salman Khan’s exemption application and scheduled the next hearing for January 16, 2021.