An emotional Salman Khan onThursday thanked the judge after receiving a breather from the Jodhpur Districtand Sessions Court, which dismissed two pleas filed by the Rajasthan governmentagainst the Bollywood actor in a case related to submitting a false affidavitin the court in 2003.
As soon as the court of Raghavendra Kachwal said that the pleas against himstood dismissed in the case, an emotional Khan, who attended the proceedingsvirtually, said, "Thank you sir".
Had the actor been proven guilty, a case under Section 193 of the Indian PenalCode would have been filed against him, which entails a provision of seven-yearimprisonment, his lawyer Hastimal Saraswat told IANS.
Soon after hearing the verdict, Saraswat said, "We finally got justiceafter years of hearings."
In 1998, Khan was arrested for hunting two blackbucks in Kankani village nearJodhpur during the shooting of the film "Hum Saath Saath Hain". Atthat time, a case under Arms Act was registered against the actor and the courthad asked him to submit his arms licence.
Khan submitted an affidavit in the court in 2003, saying that he had lost thelicence. He also lodged an FIR at the Bandra police station in Mumbai in thisconnection. However, the court later came to know that Khan's arm licence wasnot lost, but had been submitted for renewal.
Public prosecutor Bhavani Singh Bhati had then demanded that a case ofmisleading the court be filed against the actor. However, on Thursday, theJodhpur District and Sessions Court judge Raghavendra Kachwal dismissed thepleas filed against Khan.
Earlier on Tuesday, Khan had apologised before the court for 'mistakenly'submitting a false affidavit in 2003 during his hearing in the blackbuckpoaching case.
His lawyer Saraswat told the court that Khan should be forgiven for mistakenlysubmitting a false affidavit back then. Saraswat told the court that theaffidavit was mistakenly submitted to the court on August 8, 2003, for whichthe actor should be forgiven.
During the hearing, Saraswat said, "The affidavit was mistakenly submittedon August 8, 2003, as Salman had forgotten that his licence was given forrenewal as he was too busy. Therefore, he mentioned in the court that thelicence had gone missing."
A trial court in 2018 had convicted Khan and awarded a five-year prisonsentence to him for the killing of two blackbucks in October 1998.
The actor had challenged the trial court verdict in the sessions court. Khan'sfellow actors Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre, who were presenton the spot in Kankani along with him, were acquitted.