Salman behind bars? No! say producers

By Naseem Shaikh

Just 24 hours after actor Sanjay Dutt was bailed out and members of the film industry were about to smile, actor Samlan Khan’s verdict came by. It is now the turn of the industry’s ‘bad boy-number two’ to face charges for the Chinkara poaching case. 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.