Salman Khan Arms Act case verdict by Jodhpur court due today: A timeline of the legal proceedings

The cases registered against Salman Khan in the blackbuck and chinkara poaching cases back in October 1998 have dragged on for 18 long years. At the same time, a case under the Arms Act was also filed against Salman by the forest department, for allegedly using weapons with expired licences during the incident.

The case against Salman has been marked by several twists and turns in the legal proceedings. Here’s a timeline of all the major milestones:

15 October 1998: Forest department registers case against Salman Khan under 3/25 and 3/27 sections of the Arms Act. They claimed that he used arms with expired license for alleged poaching on the night of 1-2 October, 1998.

18 December 2014: Court rejected Khan’s application seeking permission to summon the then Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and District Magistrate (DM) of Mumbai as witnesses in the arms case.

25 February 2015: Court deferred the judgment saying four pending applications from the prosecution have come to light.

3 March 2015: Jodhpur court permitted new witnesses, documents and evidence as the prosecution representing the state had brought up a nine-year-old plea to produce new evidence and witnesses in the case.

23 April 2015: Chief judicial magistrate accepted an application moved by Khan’s counsel seeking exemption from his physical appearance in the court on the grounds of ill health.

29 April 2015: Khan appeared in Jodhpur court to record his statement

25 July 2016: Rajasthan High Court (HC) acquitted Salman Khan in two cases of deer poaching saying the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the actor.

27 October 2015: Rajasthan HC allowed Khan’s petition seeking documents pertaining to the prosecution sanction against him under the arms act.

October 2016: Special Leave Petition filed by Rajasthan government against Khan’s acquittal.

11 November 2016: Khan gets a Supreme Court notice on Rajasthan government’s appeal

9 December 2016: Final arguments in the case begin.

18 January 2017: Verdict to be announced