Blackbuck poaching verdict today: Salman Khan could face up to 6 years in jail

A Jodhpur court on Thursday is scheduled to give its verdict in a two-decades-old blackbuck poaching case in which Bollywood actor Salman Khan is accused of killing two of the endangered species. Final arguments of the case were completed in the trial court on March 28, after which chief judicial magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri had reserved the judgment for Thursday

The charges
Salman Khan is accused of killing two blackbucks, hunting of which is prohibited under the Wildlife Protection Act, at Kankani village in Jodhpur during the shooting of film Hum Saath Saath Hain. Actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam Kothari and a local resident, Dushyant Singh, are among the accused in the case. The charges have been filed under section 9/51 of the Wildlife Protection Act. If convicted, Salman faces a maximum prison sentence of six years, and minimum of one year. The other accused – Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali – have been charged with abetting poaching (section 9/51 read with 52 of the Wildlife Protection Act) and illegal assembly (section 149 of the Indian Penal Code). Punishment for this is the same as that for poaching – a minimum jail term of one year upto a maximum of six years.

Timeline
October 1-2, 1998: Poaching of two blackbucks in Kankani village. The forest department on October 2 registered a report against Salman, Saif, Tabu, Neelam, Sonali , Dushyant and Dinesh Ganware. Following the investigation, the forest department filed a complaint against Salman and the others.

November 9, 2000: Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jodhpur takes cognizance.
February 19, 2006: Charges are framed against the accused.
March 23, 2013: Revised charges are framed against all accused by a trial court. Repeated revision petitions, first by the defence in the session court and then by the prosecution in the high court, held up the trial for seven years.
May, 2013: Trial of the case begins in the Chief Judicial Magistrate court.

Prosecution Witnesses: At least 28 witnesses from the prosecution side are produced for examination in the matter. Statement of accused Salman and others is recorded.

January 13, 2017: Deposition is completed in the trial court.
January 27, 2017: All accused appear before the Chief Judidicial Magistrate court for recording of the statements of the accused.
September 13, 2017: Final arguments begin in the trial court.
March 28, 2018: Arguments completed, judgement reserved for April 5.