In what was a major relief to Bollywood actor Salman Khan a Jodhpur court announced its verdict in the Arms Act on illegal possession of arms and ammunition and acquitted him after over 19 years of fighting the legal battle.
Salman would now walk free in the arms act case because of lack of evidence. Out of the four cases filed against him, the Rajasthan High Court has acquitted him in two cases of poaching of chinkara. His trial in the third case of alleged poaching of two blackbucks is also currently in court.
The prosecution had claimed that the actor had possessed unlicensed guns for blackbuck shooting.The court has also directed Salman Khan to be present when the verdict was being announced. The prosecution further claimed that Khan had sent the arms back after poaching. One of them was a .22 rifle and other was .32 revolver.
The police had registered a case against Khan under sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act in October 1998 for allegedly using and possessing of guns who’s license had been expired during alleged poaching of two black bucks in Kankani village of Rajasthan. The actor’s sister, Alvira wre present with him in the court.
When Khan last appeared in the court on March 10, 2016 to record his statements, he had pleaded not guilty and had stated that he had been framed in the case by the forest department.
The case pertains to the incident that took place in 1998 when the actor was in Jodhpur to shoot Hindi movie Hum Saath Saath Hain. Khan has already served time in the Jodhpur jail twice – in April 2006 and August 2007.
