A still from the movie Lagaan.
The Gujarat High Court today quashed all criminal proceedings against Bollywood actor Aamir Khan and four others in connection with a case of alleged filming of chinkara, a protected animal, for their film "Lagaan" in Bhuj.
The state forest department had filed a complaint with the magistrate in Bhuj accusing the actor and others of alleged breach of wildlife protection act.
The forest department, in its complaint, had alleged that under the Wildlife (Protection) Act commercial filming of chinkara without prior permission was illegal.
In response, Aamir Khan had filed a petition seeking quashing of the proceedings in 2008. The matter was taken up for final hearing only last year.
The actor claims that they had used computer generated images of the animal and a real chinkara was never filmed as requisite permission was denied.
Advocate Mihir Thakore, representing Aamir Khan, said "the court has upheld all our arguments and we had provided substantial evidence to prove those claims."