The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the Rajasthan High Court order putting on hold Salman Khan’s conviction in the blackbuck hunting case.
An apex court bench headed by Justice S.J. Mukhopadhyay remanded the matter back to the high court for fresh consideration.
Pronouncing the verdict, Justice Mukhopadhyay said the film star could tell the court that he would suffer irreversible damage if his conviction was not stayed.
The court said the Rajasthan government at the same time could argue that no irreversible damage would be made if his conviction was not stayed.
The Rajasthan High Court had put on hold Khan’s conviction on his plea that it was affecting his visa for plans to travel to England.
Khan’s sentence has already been put on hold by the high court that also suspended his conviction on November 12, 2013.
Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu, Neelam and others were accused of hunting the protected blackbuck in Rajasthan during the shooting for the film Hum Saath Saath Hain.
Khan was convicted on April 10, 2006, under the Wild Life (Protection) Act and was handed five years in jail and a fine of Rs25,000 (Dh1,475).
The sessions judge on August 24, 2007, upheld his conviction and sentence, dismissing an appeal against the trial court order.
The Rajasthan High Court by its order of August 31, 2007, suspended his sentence, and November 12, 2013, suspended the order of conviction as it came in the way of Salman’s foreign travels.
