Salman Khan has been in trouble with regards to the blackbuck poaching case which has been going on since many years now. As per the latest update in the matter, it is now confirmed that the court is set to hear the actor’s appeal now against his five year prison sentence. A trial court held Salman Khan guilty on April 5, 2018, and sentenced him to five years in prison, while acquitting co-accused actors and local resident Dushyant Singh. Justice Manoj Kumar Garg is set to preside over the hearing, which will also include the Rajasthan Government’s plea seeking permission to challenge the acquittal of Khan’s co-accused — Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre, and Neelam. Both matters, which had been pending for years, will now be heard together. Prosecution lawyer Mahipal Bishnoi explained, “Salman Khan’s lawyers had earlier filed a transfer petition in the high court against his sentence from the district and session court, so that the appeal filed against him could be clubbed with the appeal filed by the state government.” For those not in the know, this case goes back to September 1998 during the filming of ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’, when Salman Khan was accused of hunting protected Chinkara deer near Jodhpur, in an area called Bawad in Mathania. The complaint was filed by members of the Bishnoi community, who consider blackbucks sacred, believing them to be the reincarnation of their spiritual leader, Bhagwan Jambeshwar, also known as Jambaji. Following his arrest the same year, Khan was released on bail. In July 2016, the Rajasthan High Court acquitted him, stating that there was insufficient evidence to prove the allegations. However, the state later challenged this acquittal in the Supreme Court. In 2023, for the first time, Salman Khan publicly addressed the case during his appearance on India TV’s Aap Ki Adalat. Expressing his faith in the legal process, he said, “I don’t know what this is. I seriously don’t know. Our judiciary is very capable. It will decide. Our judges will decide. Whatever the decision will be, we will accept it. Bring it on.” Lawrence Bishnoi has been giving death threats to Salman Khan due to this blackbuck case for many years now.
