Salman Khan told to appear before court

Actor Salman Khan has been asked to appear before the a local court here on January 29 in connection with the black buck poaching case.

The Jodhpur District Court comprising Chief Judicial Magistrate Chandra Kala Jain, after examining all prosecution witnesses, today asked Salman to appear before the court in the case.

He was exempted from appearance in the court till now, and will now be examined before the court, public prosecutor Upendra Sharma said.

The investigating officer Ashok Patni was the final witness to be examined, Salman's counsel Hastimal Saraswat said.

The actor is accused of carrying weapons with expired licence during the hunting of black bucks at Kankani village near Jodhpur in the intervening night of 1-2 October, 1998.

The trial in the case resumed on May 25 last year after 7 years of suspension following Rajasthan High Court's rejection of the revision petition, which was filed by the state government in 2006. The court had rejected the petition on May 15, 2013.

Saraswat said there were no evidences of Khan carrying arms with expired license during the alleged poaching of antelopes.

"There are many loose ends in the case. During examination, the officer could not give satisfactory and conclusive replies to some very important questions raised by me," Saraswat said.