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Salman Khan Summoned In Black Buck Case

By Kalpana Negi
Published on: 11:28 PST, Mar 3, 2016

Salman Khan, a Bollywood actor, has been summoned in the black buck poaching case. The trial is for a case alleging him with illegal possession of arms and black buck poaching, NDTV reports.

“The court has rejected the application of the defense seeking recalling of a prosecution witness, the then District Magistrate Rajat Kumar Mishra, and ordered the defense to ensure the presence of Khan in the court on March 10 for the recording of the accused’s statements,” said Additional Public Prosecutor Dinesh Tiwari, PTI reported.

This order of the District and Session Court came after the application seeking recall of a witness was rejected. The order stated that the defense has already been given enough time.

Khan appeared in the court in the same case on April 29 last year to record his plea. However, the defense had moved an application that sought to re-examine five witnesses in the case.

The poaching case began under Arms Act when Khan allegedly hunted down two black bucks in 1998. Although the judgement was to be delivered last year on February 25, the prosecution application delayed the verdict.

This is not the first case Salman Khan has been in the news for. December last year, he was acquitted in a hit-and-run case. The Bombay High Court acquitted the Bollywood actor in the 2002 case. The High Court quashed an order by a trial court that sought to convict him for five years. The High Court ruled that the prosecution failed to prove “beyond reasonable doubt” that it was Salman Khan who was driving the vehicle, India Today reported.

Salman Khan was accused of running over his car on five people sleeping on the pavement. The incident killed one and injured four others.

The court said that an appeal is allowed and that the trial court’s verdict had been quashed. The judge ruled that prosecution was not able to prove that it was Salman Khan who was driving the Toyota Land Cruiser that killed one and injured four others. The judge said that it was also not proven what really caused the accident.

“The appeal is allowed. The trial courts verdict is quashed and set aside…Salman is acquitted of all the charges,” Justice A R Joshi said, reading out the judgement. “…this court has come to the conclusion that the prosecution has failed to bring material on record to establish beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant (Salman was driving and was under the influence of alcohol, also, whether the accident occurred due to bursting (of tyre) prior to the incident or tyre burst after the incident…”

The judge also rejected the statements of eyewitness Ravindra Patil, who was a former bodyguard of Salman Khan and had gone on record saying the Bollywood actor was driving under influence.

The judge said the eyewitness was unreliable and that the evidence against the actor was “weak.” Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said back then that the government will decide whether it needs to appeal against the court order that has proved Salman Khan to be “not guilty.”

“We will examine the (High) court order and decide further course of action,” he said.

Do you think Salman Khan would be acquitted in the Black Buck case just as he was in the hit-and-run case? Do you think the judge’s order on the hit-and-run case was justified? Please comment below and tell use what you think.

[Photo By Daniel Berehulak/ Getty Images]

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