Blackbuck case: Salman Khan to skip Jodhpur Court hearing, confirms his lawyer

Salman Khan has been sentenced to five-year imprisonment in the two-decade-old blackbuck poaching case but is currently out on bail.

New Delhi: Superstar Salman Khan will not be present at the Jodhpur District and Sessions Court for the hearing in blackbuck poaching case on Friday, his lawyer Mahesh Bora confirmed. Bora, however, added that Salman's family members might attend the court hearing. 

Salman had been directed by the Jodhpur Court to appear before it on Friday and his lawyer had been reportedly asked to ensure the actor's presence in the court. At the last hearing in July, the court had said if Salman failed to mark his presence before it on September 27, his bail could be cancelled. He has not attended the hearings since the last many months.

The 53-year-actor has been sentenced to five-year imprisonment in the two-decade-old blackbuck poaching case but is currently out on bail. His imprisonment was announced on April 5, 2018, by the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court. He was however granted bail after two days - April 7.

Salman and his co-stars Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam Kothari, are accused of allegedly shooting two blackbucks in Kankani village in Rajasthan while shooting for their film 'Hum Saath Saath Hain' in 1998. 

Earlier this month, the state government had filed a petition in the Rajasthan High Court challenging the acquittal of Saif, Tabu, Sonali and Neelam in the blackbuck poaching case.