Salman cleared in 2 poaching cases

JODHPUR: The Rajasthan high court acquitted Bollywood star Salman Khan on Monday in two cases of deer poaching, a huge relief for the popular but controversial actor who has had several run-ins with the law in the past.

The court said the prosecution failed to prove the charges against Salman and that the evidence was too thin for convicting the actor in the nearly 18-yearold cases of killing Chinkaras or Indian gazelles.

Justice Nirmaljeet Kaur overturned two trial court verdicts that had handed the actor one and five years’ imprisonment. Salman has spent 13 days behind bars so far.

“Sometimes… there is immense pressure on the investigating agency to immediately arrest the alleged accused… Under the circumstance, the facts and evidence are sometime concocted to nail the alleged accused,” the court observed.

“In the process, either an innocent gets convicted or the real culprit gets away.”

The verdict comes seven months after the actor was cleared of all charges in a controversial 2002 hit-and-run case by the Bombay high court, triggering outrage and questions about whether the actor had used his star power to subvert the judicial system.

Chinkaras are a protected species and hunting them is banned. The actor was accused of huntin