NEW DELHI, April 7 (Xinhua) -- A higher court in India Saturday granted bail to leading Bollywood actor Salman Khan, two days after he was sentenced to five years in jail for poaching two endangered antelopes in the western state of Rajasthan two decades back.
The 52-year-old actor was Thursday convicted by a trial court of killing the two blackbucks -- a protected species -- near a remote village in Rajasthan's city of Jodhpur late on Oct. 1 night in 1998 while shooting a movie.
"The district sessions court in Jodhpur has now granted bail to the actor. The court had Friday postponed the bail plea hearing for a day and ordered all papers from the trial court that had handed down the sentence to Khan," a lawyer said.
"The actor will be able to walk out of Jodhpur central jail later this evening after doing all the formalities. However, he has to furnish a bail bond of 50,000 rupees (900 U.S. dollars) as ordered by the higher court," he added.
Though Khan had been convicted by the trial court under Section 51 of Wildlife (Protection) Act, four other actors who starred with him in the movie -- Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam -- were acquitted though all of them were charged with the same offence.
This is the fourth case filed against Khan in connection with poaching wild animals during the filming of the popular movie, Hum Saath Saath Hain. He had been acquitted in the other three cases by various courts.
Khan is one of Bollywood's biggest stars who has starred in more than 100 films. But he is no stranger to controversies. He has been embroiled in various cases, including a hit-and-run case, and he was jailed twice in these cases -- in April 2006 and in August 2007.
The actor insists he's innocent.
