Black buck poaching case: Rajasthan govt approaches SC against Salman Khan's acquittal

The Rajasthan Government on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court against Bollywood actor Salman Khan's acquittal in two cases related to chinkara (black buck) poaching case.

Rajasthan High Court on July 25 had acquitted Khan in the poaching case citing lack of evidence to incriminate him after he challenged the lower court's verdict that had handed him one and five years' imprisonment, respectively, in the two separate cases of poaching.

"The government is studying the merits and demerits of the case and has decided to appeal against the decision in the Supreme Court," NewsX quoted state Law Minister Rajendra Rathore as saying.

A case had been registered against Khan under the Arms Act for alleged possession and use of arms with expired license during poaching of two black bucks at village Kankani near Jodhpur in October 1998.

Salman was convicted in 2007 for hunting and killing two endangered chinkara deer and one black buck in Rajasthan in 1998. He has spent time in a Jodhpur jail twice. Both animals are protected and killing them is a punishable offence.

In 2007, he was sentenced to five years in jail and is currently out on bail in the case. But in 2013, the Rajasthan High Court suspended the conviction to make it easier for the actor to travel to the United Kingdom to shoot for a film.