NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the Rajasthan high court order which stayed Salman Khan's conviction in blackbuck hunting case.
The apex court asked the HC to decide Salman Khan's plea afresh in which the trial court had sentenced him to five-year jail term.
Khan was convicted and sentenced to one-year and five-year prison terms in separate cases of poaching of two Chinkaras at Bhawad and one blackbuck at Ghoda Farm (Mathania) on the intervening night of September 26-27, 1998 and September 28-29, 1998 respectively.
The SC also said that Salman Khan can approach the HC if he really needs to travel abroad.
Pronouncing the verdict, Justice Mukhopadhyay said the filmstar could tell the court that he would suffer irreversible damage if his conviction is not stayed and he is eventually acquitted.
The court said that the Rajasthan government at the same time could argue that no irreversible damage which cannot be undone would be caused if his conviction is not stayed.
Blackbuck is a protected animal and its hunting is a punishable offence.
Khan was convicted and sentenced to one-year and five-year prison terms in separate cases of poaching of two Chinkaras at Bhawad and one blackbuck at Ghoda Farm (Mathania) on the intervening night of September 26-27, 1998 and September 28-29, 1998 respectively.
The actor had approached the high court in 2007 seeking a stay on his conviction by a trial court so that he could file a fresh application for a British visa.
Besides Khan, actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam were accused of poaching near Jodhpur during the shooting of the film 'Hum Saath Saath Hain'.
Salman khan and past controversies
1999: This is where it all started. Salman Khan and his co-stars of the film Hum Saath Saath Hain were accused of hunting endangered chinkara and blackbuck deer while shooting in Jodhpur for the film.
2002: Salman Khan ran into trouble after his car ran into a bakery in Mumbai. One person who was sleeping on the pavement died and three others were injured in the mishap. This case is also pending in the court.
2002: Khan again made the headlines in the same year when film actor and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai walked out of the relationship with him. It was said that Khan physically assaulted Aishwarya.
2003: Actor Vivek Oberoi got into a media war with Salman Khan over his ill treatment of Aishwarya Rai. Vivek and Aishwarya were allegedly in a relationship at that time.
2008: Some religious organisations issued fatwa against the Bollywood actor for conduction Ganesh Puja at his house in Mumbai.
2008: He picked up a fight with fellow Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan at Katrina kaif's birthday. A cold war continued between the two till recently. It is rumoured that SRK cracked a joke which didn't go well with Salman.
2010: Salman Khan came under severe criticism for saying during an interview to a Pakistani channel that the 26/11 attacks were hyped because 'elite people' were targeted.
2014: He was criticised for performing at Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav's Saifai Mahotsav even as children died in relief camps in Muzaffarnagar for want of proper rehabilitation. Salman refused to back down despite pressure.
2014: Salman attracted some nasty comments during the Kite Festival in Gujarat when he met BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad. Once again, it was during the celebration of Makar Sankranti.