Bollywood's Khan skips blackbuck hearing over Covid

Actor Salman Khan's lawyer cited a surge in COVID-19 cases in Jodhpur as the reason for the actor's inability to appear before the court.

Jodhpur: Bollywood actor Salman Khan, has again failed to appear before District and Sessions Court, Jodhpur in connection with the 1998 blackbuck poaching case.

It appears that he has taken advantage of the waiver apology for about fifteen times and he has been skipping the hearing for about two and a half years. This time he cited the surge in COVID-19 as the reason for his inability to appear before the Court. The next hearing is scheduled on January 16.

Chief Judicial Magistrate Dev Kumar Khatri had ordered for five years imprisonment on April 5, 2018. While, CJM Rural Dalpat Singh Rajpurohit had acquitted him on January 18, 2017 for using illegal weapons.

On behalf of the government, two appeals were submitted by the prosecution under Section 340 of CrPC on 17 June 2019.

It seems that COVID-19 has turned out to be a boon for the actor as he skipped hearings on April 18, June 4, July 16, September 14 and September 28 and December 1.

The actor was sent to prison for shooting and killing blackbucks in Kankani village near Jodhpur on the night of October 1, 1998, during the shooting of his film, "Hum Saath Saath Hain."

Read :Blackbuck case: Salman doesn't appear in court; matter pushed to April 18