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Salman Khan gets bail

Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Bombay

Film star Salman Khan has been granted bail in two cases relating to the poaching of chinkara (Indian gazelles) in Jodhpur district.

Jodhpur District and Sessions Court Judge D K Joshi granted the actor bail on Saturday, October 17, after hearing his pleas at length.

Khan was released on bail of Rs 50,000 and a surety in each of the four cases filed against him. Three of the cases relate to poaching of protected species while the fourth is a case under the Arms Act for possession of illegal firearms and use of a firearm after expiry of its licence.

Judge Joshi, however, ordered Khan to deposit his passport in court within four days. He also prohibited the actor from leaving the country without the court's permission.

Confirming Khan's release, senior advocate Jagdeep Dhankar, counsel for the actor, told Rediff On The NeT on telephone from Jodhpur that "Salman is now free to travel anywhere in India".

Khan thus spent only one day in a proper jail. On Friday, he was remanded to judicial custody till October 26 by Jodhpur Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate P K Vashishta, and moved to the Jodhpur Central Jail. Prior to that, Khan spent four days in the custody of the forest department, which housed him in one of its offices.

But the forest officers are confident of the case they have built up against the actor. As Conservator of Forests H L Meena pointed out, "The driver of the white Gypsy in which Salman travelled has turned approver." The next hearing is on October 23.

The Jodhpur foresters are also trying to link up the case in Panvel near Bombay, where some endangered animals were recovered from Khan's family farmhouse.

"Though we tried to argue this issue in court, the judge felt it was too premature to relate these separate cases," Meena told Rediff On The NeT.

Salman Khan's father Salim Khan has been granted anticipatory bail till Monday, October 19, by a Bombay court.

Ironically, the black buck which was recovered from the Khans' farmhouse died on Friday in the custody of the forest officials who were transporting it to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivli, north Bombay, 70 km away.

Veterinarians at the Bombay Veterinary College, Parel, blamed the brutal conditions in which the animals were transported for the tragedy.

The animals had their limbs tied up and they were dumped in a hired pick-up van for the bumpy ride to the national park. No bedding of grass or any other soft material was provided either. Nor was a qualified vet accompanying the vehicle. The park's veterinarian had gone to Bangalore to fetch a pair of tigers for the safari that is being set up at Borivli.

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