A Jodhpur court has summoned Salman Khan March 10 to record his statement in connection with the Arms Act case.
"Prosecution evidences have finished. The court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) Jodhpur district has set March 10 as date for recording of statement of the accused (Salman Khan)," Salman's counsel Hastimal Saraswat told IANS.
Salman's counsel had submitted an application to re-examine a prosecution witness, but the District and Session Court rejected the application. Chief Judicial Magistrate Dalpat Singh Rajpurohit dismissed the application and ordered the defence to ensure the presence of the accused (Salman) March 10.
The trial ended Wednesday with the re-examination of five prosecution witnesses and immediately defence counsel Saraswat submitted fresh application to recall the then District Magistrate Rajat Kumar Mishra. However, magistrate Dalpat Singh Rajpurohit rejected the application stating that enough time was given to the defence to re-examine the witnesses, IANS reports.
This will be the third time Salman will appear before the court to record his statement in this case. Salman last appeared in April 29, 2015, and pleaded innocence.
The court was to pronounce the final judgment in the case under Arms Act Feb. 25, 2015, but was deferred when prosecution submitted an application for examination of four witnesses.
The case was registered against the actor after he was accused of using arms with expired licenses, which were then used to kill two blackbucks, a protected animal under the Wildlife Protection Act, at Kankani village near Jodhpur, Oct. 1, 1998.
Salman and his "Hum Saath Saath Hai" co-stars, Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam were accused in the killing of the blackbucks during the shooting of the movie.
