JODHPUR: Three days after a local court slapped a year's jail term on Bollywood star Salman Khan for killing two chinkaras, judicial magistrate Dalpat Singh Rajpurohit on Monday ordered the framing of charges against the actor in another poaching case.
This case relates to killing of two black bucks near Kankani village in the outskirts of Jodhpur on the night of October 1, 1998.
The charges will also be framed against actors - Saif Ali Khan, Tabbu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam - and two others. The actors were here for the shooting of Hum Saath Saath Hain when the poaching took place.
The magistrate ordered framing of the charges on the basis of a case filed against them by the wildlife department under Section 51 and 52 of Wildlife Protection Act (WLPA), 1972, and Section 147 and 149 of IPC and Section 27 of the Arms Act.
All the accused were represented by their lawyers as the court, on a plea of Salman's lawyer Hasti Mal Saraswat, had exempted them from their physical presence.
Magistrate Rajpurohit adjourned the case till February 27 asking the accused to be physically present before the court for the hearing.
"If they do not come on February 27, we would request the court to cancel the bail of Salman and others and issue warrants of arrest against them," said N K Sankhla, public prosecutor.
Meanwhile, an application was filed in the court by Rajesh Saraswat seeking to withdraw his surety in favour of Salman in the case and the magistrate asked the actor's counsel to submit his reply on the next hearing.
Rajesh, who had been asked by the court to deposit two bonds of Rs 1 lakh each as surety for Salman's bail plea, said, "Salman is very careless.
I stood as a guarantee for Salman in this case because of my relationship with film producer Sooraj Barjatiya, but I regret standing for Salman as he has proved to be irresponsible and did not even answer my phone calls."
Bharat Bhushan, lawyer for Saraswat, stated that his client has lost confidence in Salman who had scant respect for the court. "My client does not want to continue as a guarantor for Salman," he reiterated.
Salman's lawyer said he would be submitting a fresh bail application before the court when the matter comes up for hearing on February 27. The black buck comes under Schedule 1 of the endangered species of the wildlife department.
