Salman Khan to approach Rajasthan High Court

Bollywood actor Salman Khan will approach the Rajasthan High Court today seeking a suspension of his five-year jail sentence in 1998 chinkara poaching case.

Jodhpur, Aug 27 : Bollywood actor Salman Khan will approach the Rajasthan High Court today seeking a suspension of his five-year jail sentence in 1998 chinkara poaching case.

Salman's lawyers will ask the court to hear the case on a priority basis. However, it is very difficult to say whether Salman will be freed today, as the court will be closed on account of holiday on Tuesday.

Salman was taken into custody on Saturday after his appeal against a lower court verdict sentencing him to five years of imprisonment in poaching case was turned down by the Jodhpur court.

On Sunday, the entire family of Salman visited him in the Central Jail along with actress Katrina Kaif, who also happens to be a close friend of the actor.

Those who visited Salman, who is lodged in the barrack number one inside the jail premises, included his brother Arbaaz Khan, sisters Alvera and Aprita, and sister-in-law and actress Malaika Arora Khan.

On April 10, 2006, Salman was convicted and sentenced to five years of imprisonment. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on him.

After his conviction by the lower court, Salman had to stay in a Jodhpur jail for four days.

During the shooting of the movie "Hum Saath Saath Hain" in 1998, Salman and others poached two Chinkaras at Ujiyala Bhakhar near Ghoda Farm.

Six others accused in the case, Bollywood actors Saif Ali Khan, Satish Shah, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam Kothari, have been acquitted.

The actor has also been sentenced to a year's imprisonment in another poaching case at Bhawad, and has appealed against it as well.

The hearing in that case has not begun as the case is pending before the Rajasthan High Court where the State Government has filed an appeal for an enhancement of sentence.

The actor has been booked under the Wildlife Protection Act.

ANI