Rajasthan High Court refuses to hear Salman's plea

Jaipur: In a sudden turn of events, Justice Vijay Vishnoi of the Rajasthan High Court refused to hear the revision petition of actor Salman Khan to re-examine five witnesses in a 16-year-old Arms Act case against him. 

The petition will now be heard either by Chief Justice Anil Ambavani or by some other judge of the Rajasthan High Court.

Earlier, the lower court and session’s court had rejected the revision petition filed by Khan following which a fresh appeal was filed in the Rajasthan High Court.  The public prosecutor has been saying that Khan wants to delay the case and this is the reason why he had filed a revision petition. Khan wants the five witnesses to be re-examined but their statements have already been recorded during the trail.

In the Arms Act case, Khan is the main accused with the charges of using unlicensed weapons to hunt two blackbucks in Kankani village of Jodhpur in 1998 while shooting for the film “Hum Saath Saath Hai”. 

During the last hearing, Khan had appeared before the lower court and said that he was innocent and was deliberately



framed by the officials of the forest department and later filed the revision petition.

There are strong rumours that Justice Vishnoi refused to hear the case because he belongs to the Vishnoi community, which is a party in the case. 

People of the Vishnoi community in Jodhpur are considered to be the saviours of blackbucks. On several occasions, they have laid down their lives to save the endangered animal. 

After the incident, forest officials had lodged three separate criminal cases against Khan and his co-stars for hunting at different locations on three nights. 

A fourth case under the Arms Act was later lodged in December 2012, after the court refused to add additional charges under the Arms Act in the three cases.

Hearing under the Arms Act case is nearing completion. In case the high court approves the revision petition, all five witnesses will be re-examined and the case is likely to be prolonged. 

The sections imposed on Khan under the Arms Act have the provision of 1 to 7 years of imprisonment.