Blackbuck Poaching: Jodhpur Court Rejects Salman Khan's Plea in Arms Act Case

A Jodhpur court on Thursday rejected a revision petition of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan seeking permission to summon five witnesses in the Arms Act case against him related to the blackbuck poaching case.

The actor's counsel, HM Saraswat, said they were waiting for the detailed court order to find out the grounds on the basis of which the petition was turned down.

Saraswat, however, said the option of moving the high court was open. "We will reach a final decision only after perusal of the order," local media quoted Saraswat as saying.

Jodhpur sessions judge Manoj Vyas had completed the hearing on the petition last week and had reserved the order.

Earlier, a lower court had rejected the petition following which Saraswat had moved the sessions court.

The five witnesses mentioned in Salman's petition were prosecution witnesses and had already been examined. However, after the trial court allowed the prosecution to summon four new witnesses in pursuance of the four undecided applications moved in 2006, the defence also made a plea to call these witnesses again.

The case pertains to contravention of the Arms Act by using expired licence guns to allegedly poach blackbucks in Jodhpur on October 1, 1998.

Salman suffered the setback just days after evading an imprisonment in a 2002 hit-and-run case. He had been awarded a five-year jail term last week, but he got the sentence stayed from the Bombay High Court and consequently secured a bail.