1998 BLACK BUCK POACHING CASE: RAJASTHAN GOVT. MOVES COURT AGAINST ACQUITTAL OF 4 ACTORS
By RUBY ZAIDI
The Rajasthan government has approached the High Court to contest the acquittal of Bollywood actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre, and Neelam in the 1998 black buck poaching case, where Salman Khan was convicted in 2018.
Justice Manoj Kumar Garg, in an order issued on May 16, stated that the matter would be heard on July 28, 2025, alongside Salman Khan’s ongoing criminal appeal.
The case stems from an incident on October 1, 1998, when the film “Hum Saath-Saath Hain” was being shot near Kankani village in Jodhpur. According to the prosecution, the actors, led by Salman Khan, were involved in the illegal hunting of black bucks, a species protected under the Wildlife Protection Act.
On April 5, 2018, a Jodhpur trial court convicted Salman Khan, sentencing him to five years in prison. However, his co-accused — Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre, Neelam, and local resident Dushyant Singh — were acquitted due to insufficient evidence.
In a petition filed recently, the Rajasthan government has requested the High Court to club all related cases and incorporate Salman Khan’s conviction into a broader appeal—over seven years after the trial court’s judgment.
Following his conviction, Salman Khan was briefly lodged in Jodhpur Central Jail, but was granted conditional bail by the district and sessions court on April 7, 2018, upon furnishing a surety of ₹50,000.
There were a total of five cases filed in 1998 against Salman Khan, his co-stars, and some locals from Jodhpur for the alleged poaching of two black bucks and a chinkara.
Breakdown of Related Cases:
- Kankani Village Case
- Salman Khan convicted (April 5, 2018)
- Sentenced to 5 years
- Granted bail the same day
- Ghoda Farmhouse Case
- Conviction by CJM Court (April 10, 2006) – 5 years
- The High Court acquitted him (July 25, 2016)
- State’s appeal pending in the Supreme Court
- Bhawad Village Case
- CJM Court convicted Salman (February 17, 2006) – 1 year
- The High Court acquitted him
- Appeal filed by the state in the Supreme Court, still pending
- Arms Act Case
- Salman Khan acquitted (January 18, 2017)
- Rajasthan government challenged the acquittal in the High Court; the case is ongoing
Despite Salman Khan facing convictions in some of these cases, none of the other actors have been found guilty or penalized so far. With the High Court now set to revisit the matter, a renewed legal scrutiny looms over the acquittals handed to his co-stars in the decades-old poaching controversy.
