Salman had been exempted from appearing in court till now
New Delhi:
Actor Salman Khan has been ordered by a Jodhpur court to re-appear before it on March 10 to record his statement in the Arms Act case against him connected to the poaching of two chinkara deer and blackbuck.
In his statement in the court, Salman said he had no armswith him in Jodhpur and they were in Mumbai."I had called for those arms from Mumbai to Jodhpur onlyafter the Forest Department asked me," he said.The actor also told the court that he had not indulged inpoaching and that the investigation officer and forest officerhad fabricated a case against him.
Salman had appealed that his arms act deposition should be clubbed with the blackbuck case which is still under trial, but the court ruled against it . Mr Khan was summoned by the Chief Judicial Magistrate after being exempted from appearing in court till now.
The actor is accused of hunting and killing the endangered deer while shooting his film Hum Saath Saath Hain in Rajasthan in 1998. He has already twice spent time in the Jodhpur jail in connection to the case, in 1998 and again in 2007 and has been handed sentences of two and five years , appeals against which are pending in the High court .
Fresh charges in the poaching case were framed against Mr Khan in March last year after first the Rajasthan High Court and then the Supreme Court ruled that Section 148 of the Arms Act, or rioting with deadly weapons, could not be applied to him.
Mr Khan's rifle and revolver were seized by the court when he was first accused of poaching and their licences were found to have expired. Mr Khan's Hum Saath Saath Hain co-stars - Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam - are charged with inciting the actor to hunt.
In November last year, the Rajasthan High Court ordered that Salman Khan's poaching conviction be suspended for visa purposes to make it easier for the actor, who had been denied an UK visa to shoot his film Kick, to travel abroad.
With PTI inputs
In his statement in the court, Salman said he had no armswith him in Jodhpur and they were in Mumbai."I had called for those arms from Mumbai to Jodhpur onlyafter the Forest Department asked me," he said.The actor also told the court that he had not indulged inpoaching and that the investigation officer and forest officerhad fabricated a case against him.
Salman had appealed that his arms act deposition should be clubbed with the blackbuck case which is still under trial, but the court ruled against it . Mr Khan was summoned by the Chief Judicial Magistrate after being exempted from appearing in court till now.
The actor is accused of hunting and killing the endangered deer while shooting his film Hum Saath Saath Hain in Rajasthan in 1998. He has already twice spent time in the Jodhpur jail in connection to the case, in 1998 and again in 2007 and has been handed sentences of two and five years , appeals against which are pending in the High court .
Fresh charges in the poaching case were framed against Mr Khan in March last year after first the Rajasthan High Court and then the Supreme Court ruled that Section 148 of the Arms Act, or rioting with deadly weapons, could not be applied to him.
Mr Khan's rifle and revolver were seized by the court when he was first accused of poaching and their licences were found to have expired. Mr Khan's Hum Saath Saath Hain co-stars - Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam - are charged with inciting the actor to hunt.
In November last year, the Rajasthan High Court ordered that Salman Khan's poaching conviction be suspended for visa purposes to make it easier for the actor, who had been denied an UK visa to shoot his film Kick, to travel abroad.
With PTI inputs
