A Jodhpur court on Tuesday granted exemption to actor Salman Khan from personal appearance in the Black Buck poaching case on a plea by the actor citing the Covid pandemic..
Salman Khan was to appear in the district and sessions and court on Tuesday for hearing in two cases related to poaching of black bucks and one case in under the Arms Act.
However, Salman Khan’s advocate Hastimal Saraswat put up a plea in court saying the actor could not be present due to the ongoing Covid pandemic. He said Covid cases were spiking in Maharashtra and Rajasthan and in view of the dangers from the spread of the deadly viral disease, Khan could not be present in court.
The court accepted the plea and allowed Khan to remain absent from personal appearance. The court fixed the next date of hearing for January 16, 2021 and ordered that Khan be present on the next hearing.
This was the sixth time that Khan has sought permission from personal appearance in the case during the Covid outbreak.
In 2018, a trial court had convicted Khan and awarded five-year imprisonment to Khan for shooting and killing two black bucks in Kankani village near Jodhpur, during the shooting of his film ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ in October 1998.
Khan’s fellow actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonalii Bendre who were present on the spot on Kankani along with Khan were acquitted. After the conviction by the trial court, Khan had to spend three days in Jodhpur jail before getting bail. Khan has appealed against the trial court order in the sessions court.
