Salman asked to appear in court on Sept 27

Bollywood actor Salman Khan has been directed by the Jodhpur court to appear before it on September 27, the next date of hearing for 1998 blackbuck poaching case.

The District and Sessions Court (Rural), while hearing a plea by Bollywood actor Salman Khan, through his counsel Hastimal Saraswat has asked him to appear before the court on September 27. Salman's lawyer had filed an application before the court seeking exemption of Salman Khan from his personal appearance.

District judge Chandra Kumar Songra warned Khan to appear in the next hearing else his bail may be cancelled.

Earlier on May 7, Khan had appeared in the District and Sessions Court (Rural) in Jodhpur. He has challenged the five-year sentence given to him by the trial court last year.

On April 5 2018, the chief judicial magistrate (Jodhpur district) had sentenced him to five years in jail for killing two blackbucks in 1998 but acquitted his colleagues Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre. A fifth person, Dushyant Singh, a local from the area, was also been acquitted.

Khan, who spent two nights in Jodhpur Central jail, was granted bail by a Jodhpur sessions court on April 7 on a bond of Rs 50,000 and two sureties of like amount. The CJM court had also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000, while convicting him under the Wildlife Protection Act.