The Rajasthan High Court on Friday, 5 February, has exempted actor Salman Khan from appearing in person before Jodhpur Court to furnish his bail bond in the blackbuck poaching case, as per a report by ANI.
Addl Advocate General was quoted by ANI as saying, "The high court has said that he can appear virtually to furnish a bail bond, but he'll have to appear physically when hearing begins."
The district court, while hearing Khan’s appeal against a five-year sentence in the blackbuck poaching case, had ordered him to appear on 6 February before the court in person.
Salman’s counsel Hastimal Saraswat told Hindustan Times, "Salman appearing in person will lead to a huge crowd in the court premises and due to the COVID-19 pandemic there is a huge risk of infection spreading from the crowd. After hearing our arguments, the division bench allowed the petitioner to submit the bail bond through video conferencing".
Salman Khan was granted bail after being convicted and sentenced to five years of imprisonment on 5 April 2018 for killing two blackbucks in Jodhpur during the shoot of Hum Saath Saath Hain. Khan had spent two nights at the Jodhpur Central jail.
Due to lack of evidence, Salman's co-stars in the movie – Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Neelam, Tabu and Dushyant Singh – were acquitted.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)