The Rajasthan government has moved the high court to challenge the acquittal of actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam by the trial court in the 1998 black buck poaching case in which Salman Khan was convicted in 2018.
Justice Manoj Kumar Garg passed an order on May 16, which said: “List the matter on July 28, 2025 along with the criminal appeal filed by the accused — Salman Khan.”
The incident occurred on October 1, 1998, during the shooting of Rajshri’s Hum Saath-Saath Hain at Kankani village near Jodhpur. It was alleged that the actors, led by Salman Khan, had hunted black bucks, a protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act.
The trial court on April 5, 2018 convicted Salman Khan and sentenced him to five years in prison. However, co-accused Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam, Sonali Bendre and a local man, Dushyant Singh, were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
In its petition, the state government has sought permission to transfer related matters and include Salman’s conviction as part of the broader appeal — over seven years after the verdict was delivered by a trial court in Jodhpur.
Following his conviction in April 2018, Salman Khan went to Jodhpur Central Jail. The district and sessions court granted him conditional bail on April 7, 2018 on a surety of Rs. 50,000, and he was released the same day.
A total of five cases were registered against Salman and his co-stars and some locals of Jodhpur in 1998, for allegedly hunting two black bucks and one chinkara.
In the Kankani village case, Salman Khan was convicted on April 5, 2018, and sentenced to five years in prison. He was granted conditional bail.
In the Ghoda farmhouse case, the chief judicial magistrate court in Jodhpur on April 10, 2006 sentenced Salman to five years in prison. He challenged the verdict in the high court which acquitted him on July 25, 2016. The Rajasthan government’s appeal in the acquittal order is pending in the Supreme Court.
In the Bhawad village case, the CJM court on February 17, 2006 convicted Salman Khan and sentenced him to one year in prison. The high court later acquitted him but the state government went in appeal before the Supreme Court. The case is still under consideration.
In the Arms Act case, Salman was acquitted on January 18, 2017. The state government challenged the acquittal in the high court, which matter is still pending.
In all these multiple cases, the other actors have so far escaped conviction or penalties.