Salman Khan arms act case: Court to announce verdict today

Breaking News : A Jodhpur court will announce its judgement in an arms act case against actor Salman Khan on Wednesday.

Chief judicial magistrate Dalpat Singh Rajpurohit will give his verdict on a case against the actor for allegedly possessing illegal arms during the shoot of his film Hum Saath Saath Hain in Jodhpur in 1998. On January 9, the court had reserved its judgement after hearing the concluding arguments from both sides.

The actor is required to be present in court when the judgement is announced.

Khan is accused of carrying and using illegal arms with an expired licence. A case under the Arms Act was registered against him. The actor allegedly had a US-made revolver and a 22-bore rifle with him. The prosecution said the licence of both the firearms had expired on September 22, 1998, but the actor used them to hunt two blackbucks on October 1 and 2, 1998, in Kankani village on the outskirts of Jodhpur.

The prosecution argued that Khan, in 1998, had complained that his revolver had been stolen. However, during a search, police officer Satyamani Tiwari found the firearm in his hotel room. The prosecution also produced post-mortem reports of the two blackbucks killed that night and it shows that gunshot injury was the cause of death.

Mahipal Vishnoi, a counsel in the case, said that the case was registered against Khan under sections 3/25 and 3/27 of the Arms Act. If charges are proven, he could face a jail term up to a maximum of seven years.

In all, the actor is accused in three cases – chinkara poaching, blackbuck poaching and arms act. The Rajasthan High Court acquitted Khan in the chinkara poaching case last July. The trial in the blackbuck case is in its final stage. Read more