On 5 April 2018, a Jodhpur trial court convicted Salman Khan for hunting blackbucks in 1998 and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment.
Salman had been charged under Section 9 read with Section 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and the trial had been going on for 19 years in the Jodhpur trial court. Salman’s Hum Saath Saath Hain co-actors, namely Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam were also tried under these charges, but have been acquitted by the court.
But what exactly do these charges mean? And will Salman actually go to jail now?
Follow live updates on the conviction here.
The Charge: Hunting Prohibited Animals
The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, does not prohibit all kinds of hunting. However, Section 9 prohibits the hunting of any of the animals listed in the five Schedules of the Act. Blackbucks are listed in Schedule I, and therefore hunting them is a criminal offence.
“Hunting” under the Act includes killing, capturing or injuring an animal, or any attempt to do so.
Section 51 of the Act specifies the penalties for hunting prohibited animals (and other offences under the Act).
Punishment for Salman
According to Section 51 of the Act, the punishment for hunting an animal listed in Schedule I is three to seven years’ imprisonment (plus a fine). However, in 1998, the range of punishment was one to six years.
Salman’s sentence of five years is on the heavier side, and means his request for leniency was denied by the judge.
Will Salman Go to Jail?
Salman is obviously expected to file an appeal against the conviction — as he did when convicted in the chinkara hunting and hit-and-run homicide cases. Till the appeal is heard, he can apply for bail and/or a suspension of the sentence under Section 389 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
However, Salman will have to go to jail for at least a day, because of the length of his sentence. Since the sentence is more than three years, he has to apply to the Sessions Court or Rajasthan High Court for bail – he can’t approach the trial court itself. This means there will be at least a day’s delay before he gets out of jail.
That’s what happened when Salman was convicted in the chinkara hunting case in 2006, when he was also given a five-year sentence. Salman spent a few days in jail before getting bail, and then secured a suspension of his sentence from the High Court.
Salman’s bail and suspension of sentence were granted on the condition that he wouldn’t leave the country. Of course, even this condition was later waived to allow him to travel outside the country for filming.
We can probably expect this to happen in this case, which means that once Salman’s application is heard by the higher court, he will not spend any further time in jail. However, he will be spending today in Jodhpur Central Jail.
Salman’s Next Steps
To apply for bail, Salman needs to indicate that he is going to file an appeal against his conviction. The appeal is a prerequisite for applying for suspension of his sentence. He can approach either the local Sessions Court or the Rajasthan High Court for these steps.
It is being reported that he is approaching the Sessions Court with an application for bail that will be heard on 6 April.
The court will grant bail if it doesn’t see any grounds to refuse this – for instance, that letting him out on bail would cause him to abscond. Given Khan’s public profile and acting career, it is unlikely that such risks could be established.
The grounds for bail and appeal are likely to be similar. Khan has argued in this case that he has been framed, and that the eyewitnesses to the crime gave whatever statements the police asked them to. He claims that he didn’t shoot the blackbucks and that they died of other causes.
Such arguments have worked for him in the past, in both the chinkara poaching and hit-and-run homicide cases. He managed to get bail in both and ended up being acquitted by the High Court on appeal.
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