Chief judicial magistrate court reads out charges against Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre, Neelam in the blackbuck case

IANSLast Updated: 3.47 PM IST 03.23.2013

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Chief judicial magistrate reads out charges against Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre, Neelam in the blackbuck case

The court of CJM, Jodhpur on Saturday read out charges against four Bollywood stars – Tabu, Sonali Bendre, Neelam Kothari and Saif Ali Khan – in the 14-year-old case of blackbuck poaching while shooting for a film

The charges relate to an incident that occurred during the shooting of Rajshri Productions' Hum Saath Saathj Hain in 1998.

The chief judicial magistrate CK Jain read out charges one by one against all of the film starts, except Salman Khan, who was also an accused in the case, but had sought exemption from the court on the ground that he had to be out of the country for medical treatment.

"Salman Khan was not present in the court today (Saturday) as he in not in the country and has gone overseas for treatment," Hastimal Saraswat, Salman Khan's counsel, said.

The charges have been framed under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 relating to hunting and inciting to poach blackbucks. If found guilty, the actors could face imprisonment for about six years. Tabu, Sonali Bendre, Neelam and Saif Ali Khan however, denied all the charges. The court has fixed April 27 as next date of hearing in this case.

The case was filed against these actors for poaching of blackbucks (A protected animal under the Wildlife Protection Act) in 1998 in Kankni village near Jodhpur.

First Published: 3.46 PM IST 03.23.2013