Actor Salman Khan has moved the sessions court to appeal against the five year jail sentence he was awarded today by a Jodhpur court in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case. He was also ordered to pay a fine of Rs10,000. As per latest updates, his bail application has been moved and will be taken up tomorrow at 10.30am.
The actor will now have to spend the night at the Jodhpur Central Jail. Salman was found guilty after the testimony given by eyewitness Poonam Chand and Chhoga Ram, as well as the post-mortem report. But as there wasn’t enough evidence against the co-accused in the case — Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre, Neelam and Dushyant Singh — they were acquitted earlier in the day.
The bail is likely to be sought by pointing out Salman’s co-operation in the case and the humongous amount of money riding on him for his upcoming films. As per reports, as much as Rs500 crore is riding on him.
If the actor does need to spend a considerable amount of time in jail, there are chances that the makers of his upcoming films would suddenly need to either postpone or reschedule their projects.
Salman also has the option of appealing against the conviction in the Rajasthan high court.
The Sultan actor was found guilty under section 9/51 of the Wildlife Protection, 1972 for hunting down two blackbucks, which is an endangered species.
In a recent update, trade analyst Komal Nahta tweeted out a statement by Salman's lawyer, Anand Desai.