MUMBAI, 8 April 2018:
Bollywood star Salman Khan, jailed on Thursday for five years for poaching, was granted bail by a court yesterday – in a case being followed by tens of millions of fans and a movie industry that banks heavily on his popularity.
The actor was freed from jail after completing the necessary formalities, his lawyer Mahesh Bora told reporters.
Khan’s fans set off firecrackers outside his home in Mumbai and outside the court in Jodhpur in Rajasthan state after the actor was granted bail.
Khan, 52, was found guilty of violating Indian wildlife laws by killing a blackbuck – an endangered species of antelope – in 1998.
The case was brought by members of a community known as the Bishnoi, who revere antelopes. The community had pursued the case against Khan for almost two decades.
The actor may not leave the country without the court’s permission, said Mahipal Bishnoi, a lawyer for the Bishnoi community.
Khan has had other run-ins with the law.
In 2015, a Bombay High Court overturned Khan’s conviction in a hit-and-run case – in which he was accused of running over a group of people sleeping on a city sidewalk, killing one and injuring four.
Last year, another court in Jodhpur acquitted Khan in a separate poaching case – ruling there was no proof that Khan had killed an endangered gazelle.
Khan has made a series of blockbuster hits in the last few years with the latest in December Tiger Zinda Hai grossing more than three billion rupees (RM179 million) at the box office.
– Reuters