Buck stops here: Salman to know fate today

KHAN-TROVERSY KING: Salman had spent three days in the Jodhpur Jail after he was sentenced last year.

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Keywords: Chinkara, Black Buck

Jodhpur: While actor Sanjay Dutt is out of the jail for now, his colleague and Bollywood’s favourite controversy child Salman Khan is struggling.

The countdown has begun for Bollywood's self-proclaimed 'bad' boy and a session’s court in Jodhpur is set to pronounce its verdict in the actor’s appeal against the five-year jail term awarded to him in the Chinkara poaching case in April 2006.

Salman had spent three days in the Jodhpur Central Jail after he was sentenced for shooting a Chinkara in 1998 while shooting for the film Hum Saath Saath Hain.

Salman's lawyers say their case is strong.

“The court has initiated proceedings against the key eyewitness Gypsy driver Harish Dulani in this case, he went absconding right after giving his testimony. How can Salman be sentenced on the basis of the testimony of an absconder?” says the actor’s lawyer Hastimal Saraswat.

Salman's lawyers also say the forensic evidence found on the actor's car was inconclusive, and the case - registered under the Wildlife Protection Act - was filed by the police and not the forest department officials.

But the Bishnoi community of Rajasthan - that played a major role in the Salman's conviction - says the arguments aren't new.

“The strong evidence we presented before the court including the forensic report are solid. There are all possibilities that the court will reject Salman's appeal against his sentence,” says the community’s lawyer, Mahipal Bishnoi.

While Salman's fans pray for his acquittal, the Bishnois - who regard the Chinkara as a sacred animal - will be hoping that the actor's stay in jail will last a little longer this time.

Salman’s legal wrangle

1997 marked the beginning of Salman's legal troubles. Salman was involved in a Chinkara poaching case in Ghoda farms in Rajasthan on October 11, 1997.

In 1998, while in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, to shoot for a song sequence for Rajshri Films' Hum Saath Saath Hain, Salman and several co-stars went hunting in the nearby Thar Desert. The group strayed into a Bishnoi-dominated area, where Salman shot a black buck, a member of an endangered species that is illegal to hunt.

Rumors had always existed that Salman had physically abused his former girlfriend, Pakistani actress Somy Ali. In 1999, Aishwarya Rai’s family also fueled similar tales regarding his behaviour with Aishwarya.

In the complaint, the Rais stated that they “should not be held responsible for any untoward incident involving the actor.”

Salman Khan is also charged with killing a person and injuring four by ramming his car into a bakery in suburban Bandra on September 28, 2002.

Despite the fact that a policeman was in Khan's car (Khan had been receiving police protection due to death threats from the mafia), Khan absconded from the scene.

He later claimed that he felt his life was threatened by the mob that formed after the accident, but some suspected he'd wanted to avoid a blood-alcohol test.