Salman Khan chinkara poaching cases: PETA lauds Rajasthan govt for moving SC against actor’s acquittal

Mumbai: PETA, an animal rights organisation lauded the Rajasthan government for moving Supreme Court on Wednesday to challenge the High Court’s verdict acquitting Salman Khan of all charges in the twin blackbuck poaching cases.

Besides appreciating the Rajasthan government for its move against the Bollywood superstar, PETA said that punishments for violating wildlife laws must apply "equally" to everyone.

"The majority of the Indian public who care about wildlife will be pleased the Rajasthan government is taking steps to get the evidence of the poaching case re-examined in the Supreme Court.

"Wildlife protection laws and punishments for violating them must apply equally to everyone," said Poorva Joshipura, CEO PETA India.

The state government has sought stay of Rajasthan High Court judgement by which the 50-year old actor's conviction and jail term of five year was set aside.

The matter is yet to be listed before a bench for hearing.

Khan was acquitted by the High Court on July 25.

Joshipura said that the acquittal in this matter is commonly considered a "fluke" since in most cases, if a person is connected with hunting or hurting wildlife, the process will not take nearly two decades and they will be booked.

"Black bucks and chinkaras are endangered and considered extremely vulnerable. And all animals who are hunted suffer immensely. Quick kills are rare and many animals who are shot suffer prolonged, painful deaths.

"Hunters often severely injure but fail to kill them, and the animals run away and die later slowly of blood loss, gangrene or starvation. Hunting rips animal families apart and leaves countless animals orphaned when mother animals are killed," Joshipura said.

Salman, who has an ocean of fan following and often referred to as “bhai”, has been in news for all wrong reasons. He had landed in trouble ahead of the release of his film Sultan for his “like a raped woman” remark and recently got embroiled in controversy for defending Pakistani artists.

 (With PTI inputs)