18 January,2017 06:43 PM IST | | Agencies
After acquittals in the 2002 hit-and-run and the 1998 poaching cases, lack of evidence allows superstar Salman Khan to walk clean from the Arms Act case as well
It's a hat-trick! Salman Khan escapes jail once again
Salman Khan arrives at Jodhpur Court this morning. Pic/Love Nahta
Jodhpur: The Jodhpur court in the Arms Act case has given a clean chit to Salman Khan. This is one of the four cases against the actor.
While the Rajasthan High Court had acquitted him in two cases of poaching of chinkara, trial in the third case of alleged poaching of two blackbucks is on. Khan and his sister Alvira Agnihotri arrived here last evening and he appeared in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate this morning.
Besides the cases of poaching of endangered antelopes under Wildlife (Protection) Act, a case under sections 3/25 and 3/27 of the Arms Act was filed against Khan for allegedly keeping and using the fire arms with expired licence in the poaching of blackbucks in Kankani near Jodhpur on October 1-2, 1998.
Arguments by both the sides in this case were completed on January 9, after which magistrate Dalpat Singh Rajpurohit reserved the judgement for January 18 directing the actor to be present in the court. Before this, Khan had appeared in the court on March 10 last year for recording of his statements, wherein he had pleaded innocence and had stated that he had been framed in the case by the forest department.
Bollywood actor Salman Khan arrives at Jodhpur civil Airport during the case in the 1998 Arms Act in Jodhpur on Tuesday. Pic/PTI
His counsel HM Saraswat had earlier said, "We had argued in the court that there was no evidence that Khan was carrying fire arms either during his stay here or during alleged poaching. What he was found in possession with, were actually the air guns." The defence also raised questions on the prosecution permission arguing that it was given by the then district magistrate Rajat Kumar Mishra and was not lawful. Prosecution counsel BS Bhati, replying to the arguments, said that the prosecution permission was based on the facts and evidences furnished by the police in its investigation.
Here is what Salman Khan tweeted after the verdict:
