New Delhi: A Sessions Court in Jodhpur on Friday upheld the five-year jail term for actor Salman Khan in the Chinkara poaching case, turning down the actor’s appeal against his sentencing last year.
The actor failed to appear for the hearing, saying he missed the flight to Jodhpur from Hyderabad where he is currently shooting.
However, Salman's sister Alvira Khan was present in court. The actor will now be arrested unless he surrenders before the court himself.
Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt responding to the court’s pronouncement told CNN-IBN said, “I just got to know that the court has upheld his five-year jail term and he has to go in till he makes some fresh applications in the Higher Court. I spoke to his father, Salim Khan yesterday, who told me that he was anxious about the court’s verdict. We are now waiting to hear as to what the legal minds are going to say and how they are going to deal with this.”
When asked that Salman had made his case worse by not appearing in the court as it took seven to 10 days to get bail Bhatt said, “I have to authenticate that from Salman’s family and from my sources and then will I be able to comment on whether he had substantial reasons for not appearing in the court.”
The Court was told that he missed his flight while coming from Hyderabad what did Bhatt have to say about that?
“Human errors is something that is unavoidable, but I think that a man who has not hesitated to go behind the bars earlier would do something as foolish as this, knowing that he would be in the spotlight and be penalised if found on the wrong side. I have insufficient facts to make comments but I am concerned about his family and how they will they deal with this.”
Belinda Wright from the Wildlife Protection Society of India who had stood by the Bishnoi community through out the proceedings of the case said, “It has been a hard battle of nine years. When it first happened, the Bishnoi community called us and we went to down to Jodhpur and the community stood by this case. It has been quite a saga.”
Since the person in question is a big star, had this happened to a common man, would all sides take stands as they were doing now?
“Being a film star, he is a role model which is also an important aspect of the case. If you are a celebrity then you become a role model to the rest of the society,” Wright said.
Since this case was registered under the Wildlife Protection Act, what would the kind of proceedings that would follow?
“The Wildlife Protection Act came into force in 1972 is a fine bit of legislation but its implementation is weak. However, we have laws in India that are able to manage wildlife problems regarding poaching. And the Act has been used very actively in Salman’s case,” Wright said.
Since his lawyers will be appealing in the Higher Courts, did Wright think that were chances of his acquittal?
“I do not know. It is all up to the courts now,” Wright concluded.
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