Salman Khan acquitted in poaching cases

SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Actor Salman Khan was acquitted Monday in two poaching cases, with the Rajasthan High Court over-turning earlier verdicts that sentenced him to jail time.

Khan, 50, had been accused of shooting protected antelopes or chinkara in separate incidents in 1998 while filming a movie in the desert state. Monday, the High Court said there was not enough evidence to rule the animals had been shot by Khan’s licensed gun.

thank u for ur prayers and support .

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 25, 2016

Khan and his co-stars had been riding in a jeep, of which the driver had been missing from, effectively weakening the prosecutions allegations against the movie star. A third case about Salman Khan’s alleged poaching of endangered blackbuck is yet to be decided in Rajasthan.

The state government must decide now whether to appeal to the Supreme Court to overrule Monday’s decision.

“We will study the court order today and then the forest department along with the law and home departments will decide on the appeal in this case,” said Raj Kumar Rinwa, Rajasthan’s Forests and Environment Minister.

In 2006, Khan had been sentenced to serve five years in jail for shooting and killing the chinkaras. He spent one week in a Jodhpur jail before ultimately being granted bail.

The actor is currently in the midst of a standoff with the National Women’s Commission after saying that his training for his role as a wrestler in his new blockbuster film “Sultan” left him “feeling like a raped woman.” The women’s rights body has demanded he apologize for the off-color remark, which he has yet to do.

And last year, the Mumbai High Court overturned Khan’s conviction in a 13-year-old hit-and-run case in which he was accused of plowing over a homeless man while driving drunk in Mumbai. In the case, Khan denied he was behind the wheel of the vehicle.

The Maharashtra government has challenged his acquittal in the Supreme Court.