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Salman convicted for killing blackbuck
(LEAD) Indo-Asian News Service

Jodhpur, Feb 17 (IANS) Salman Khan, one of India's most popular actors, was sentenced to a year in jail by a court here Friday on charges of poaching endangered blackbuck deer in Rajasthan eight years ago. 

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Immediately after announcing its sentence, the court granted Salman bail and gave him 30 days to file an appeal in the sessions court. 

As hundreds of fans and others massed the complex, the court pronounced its verdict shortly after holding him guilty under the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act. The court also fined Salman Rs.5,000.

Salman, who currently has films worth Rs.1 billion riding on him, was accused of killing two endangered blackbuck deer - a crime under India's wildlife laws.

The court, however, acquitted Bollywood comedian Satish Shah and six others who were also accused in the case.

Salman's counsel Hastimal Saraswat told IANS: "Salman was given bail by the court immediately after the verdict, and we will approach the sessions court."

When the star arrived at the court Friday, his fans gathered outside greeted him with cries of "Salman zindabad!" (long live Salman). 

After the court sentenced the actor, the fans protested the verdict.

Salman and the seven others were accused of killing a couple of blackbucks in two separate incidents - one at Bhawad on the outskirts of Jodhpur Sep 26, 1998 and another at Ghoda Farms Sep 28, 1998. 

They were then shooting for the film "Hum Sath Sath Hain".

The poaching incident evoked protests, particularly by Rajasthan's Bishnoi community that acts as the natural guardian of the animal. 

In western Rajasthan, the Bishnois have for several centuries been the biggest protector of blackbucks, and the community worships the hoofed animal.

The hearing in the second blackbuck poaching case is slated for Feb 27.

The movies Salman is currently working in include Rumi Jaffrey's "God Tussi Great Ho", "Janeman" and "Marigold".

Despite not being media savvy, Salman enjoys a fan following of millions that some say is larger than that of the other two Khans of Bollywood - Shah Rukh and Aamir.
 

Salman has had many brushes with law
By Arpana, Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Feb 17 (IANS) Many of his fans will be distressed by the news of Salman Khan being sentenced to a year in prison for poaching of endangered blackbuck, but the Bollywood beefcake has never been far away from controversies and brushes with the law. 

On Sept 28, 2002, Salman was charged with killing a man and injuring four others in an incident of rash driving in Mumbai. The accident triggered off a storm of protests against him. 

Earlier, Salman made it to the headlines for all the wrong reasons - roughing up scribes, manhandling his ex-girlfriend Aishwarya Rai, tiffs with Shah Rukh Khan and Abhishek Bachchan on the sets of films and a verbal assault on Vivek Oberoi. 

Fortunately or unfortunately, his acts of misdemeanour have not marred his popularity and Salman continues to have a huge fan following - not too surprising, as most celebrities involved in legal battles have come out unscathed in terms of their popularity. 

For instance, Sanjay Dutt scaled new heights in Bollywood after he was released from jail following his arrest under an anti-terror law for his alleged involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. 

Similarly, Fardeen Khan and Saif Ali Khan also have had brushes with law, but it didn't affect them or their celebrity status.

Recently, the hit-and-run case against Salman took a new turn after an eyewitness, Ravindra Patil, who was accompanying the star as his police bodyguard at the time, told the court that Salman was under the influence of alcohol and drove rashly when his car crushed people sleeping on the pavements and then rammed into a bakery. 

However, Salman had some respite, as Patil failed to turn up in court thrice, and the case was deferred to March 2 for further hearing. 

Salman has denied the charges and refuted allegations that he was driving rashly. 

Salman has also made a phoenix-like rise after the controversy related to the hit-and-run case, beginning with Satish Kaushik's "Tere Naam" that was released in 2003. 

This was followed by a guest appearance in Ravi Chopra's super hit "Baghban" in the same year. Though the film centred on Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, Salman was a big hit among fans in his goody-goody role. 

In 2004, Salman's "Mujhsey Shaadi Karogi" did brisk business and in 2005, lady luck smiled on him again and his films "No Entry" and "Mainey Pyaar Kyun Kiya" stuck gold at the box office.

Despite the Rajasthan court sentencing him to a year in prison in the blackbuck case, Salman also has a month to appeal the verdict. 

If he fails to obtain bail, those most affected would be the directors currently working with him. According to Salman's secretary Vikas Kapoor, the actor is involved in projects worth Rs.1 billion.

His upcoming films include "Salaam-E-Ishq: A Tribute to Love", "Babul", "God Tussi Great Ho", "Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye" and "Janeman".

Salman sentenced to one year's jail in poaching case
Indo-Asian News Service

Jodhpur, Feb 17 (IANS) Actor Salman Khan was Friday found guilty in a blackbuck poaching case by a court in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and sentenced to one year's imprisonment.

The popular actor, who currently has films worth Rs.1 billion riding on him, was accused of killing two endangered blackbucks - a crime under India's wildlife laws - in 1998.

"We will appeal in the high court and he will get bail," Vikas Kapoor, Salman's secretary, told IANS on phone from Mumbai.