The Rajasthan High Court on Monday acquitted Salman Khan in the black buck and chinkara poaching cases of 1998. Justice Nirmaljeet Kaur of Jodhpur High Court pronounced the verdict. Two separate cases had been registered against the actor under section 51 of Wildlife Protection Act for poaching of two chinkaras in village Bhawad and one chinkara in Mathania. At that time of the alleged incidents, Salman was shooting for Sooraj Barjatya's film Hum Sath Sath Hain in Jodhpur. His co-stars from the film Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam were charged with inciting the actor to hunt.

Earlier, the trial court had convicted him in both the cases sentencing him to one year and five year imprisonment on February 17, 2006 and April 10, 2006 respectively. The convictions were later challenged by Salman Khan in the session's court, which was dismissed and later the appeal got transferred to the High Court.

When contacted, Salman's father Salim Khan said, “It's a huge relief for the family. We had total faith in the judiciary and the right verdict has come out. I was sure that my son would get a clean chit.“