Daily Times

Salman Khan, the Bollywood superstar, has been sentenced to five years prisoned by Indian court for killing endangered wildlife. The act was committed to decades ago. Salman Khan denied poaching the rare antelopes known as black bucks in 1998. He can still appeal his conviction for a crime that has gripped celebrity-obsessed India for decades.

“The court has given a five-year jail term and fined Salman Khan 10,000 rupees ($150),” prosecution lawyer Mahipal Bishnoi told media. Hundreds of police were deployed outside the courtroom to keep back fans who amassed to support Salman Khan. Four other Bollywood stars; Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam Kothari were also accused of joining the hunting trip but were acquitted for lack of evidence. Salman Khan fans have accused Rajasthan’s forest department of framing him over the black buck case.

His defence lawyers had suggested the black bucks died of natural causes such as overeating, and claimed there was no evidence they had been shot.

The decades old controversy

The 52-year-old has been dogged by multiple charges since undertaking the infamous hunting safari in protected forest land while shooting a film in Rajasthan. The Bishnois— a Rajasthani tribe seen as custodians of the region’s wildlife, filed a complaint against the actors. Salman Khan spent a week in prison in 1998 when first accused of using unlicensed arms to shoot the black buck.

Last year, he was cleared by a court over the alleged use of unlicensed guns on the expedition. A higher court is challenging his acquittal. The Bollywood superstar was also found guilty of killing gazelles on the hunting trip and served a very brief stretch in jail in 2006, but was later acquitted on appeal.

Although, he was cleared in 2015 of killing a homeless man in a hit-and-run accident but that decision is now being challenged in the Supreme Court.

Salman Khan was also accused of assaulting a former Miss World and provoked a firestorm in 2016 by saying his workout schedule for a film left him feeling ‘like a raped woman’.

Bollywood film industry analyst Komal Nahta said the conviction and any jail term would only delay movies but not seriously harm his career. “He is a superstar whose films guarantee huge box office numbers,” Nahta said. “A jail term might affect a few films that are in the pipeline. These films can wait as they have not yet begun production and at present it would only mean a loss of time rather than money investment,” Nahta added.

Khan remains one of Bollywood’s biggest draws despite his off-screen drama, starring in more than 100 films and television shows. According to reports, he made $37 million in yearly earnings to finish second behind Shah Rukh Khan in the 2017 Bollywood rankings. Salman Khan is among the top 10 most highly paid actors in the world.

The Bollywood superstar’s latest blockbuster “Tiger Zinda Hai” collected some $85 million worldwide.

Published in Daily Times, April 6^th 2018.