It’s D-day for Bollywood actor Salman Khan as the Magistrate’s Court in Jodpur, Rajasthan, is expected to deliver its decision today on two counts of illegal use of firearms during a hunting expedition in 1998.   

The 49-year-old actor from Mumbai has been convicted and sentenced on two other counts of hunting and killing endangered deer during the shooting of his film, Hum Saath Saath Hain.   

Local media in the capital reported that the court in Jodhpur would pronounce its judgment today, with the actor himself expected to be present in court.

According to the facts of the case, two black bucks, protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, were killed on the outskirts of Kankani village near Jodhpur.

In one of the two cases, the superstar is alleged to have been carrying arms with an expired licence.

The Hindustan Times reported that Salman Khan’s rifle and revolver were seized by the court when he was first accused of poaching and his licence was found to have expired.  

Fresh charges were framed against him last year after the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court both ruled that the arms act could not be applied to him and sent the case back to the lower court.  

In January this year, the Supreme Court cancelled a court order that had put on hold his five-year jail term in the poaching case.  

In 2013, the Rajasthan High Court had stayed the actor’s conviction and five-year jail sentence.  

Legal experts interviewed over the TV channels in New Delhi expressed the view that since he been convicted on two other charges, it was unlikely that Salman Khan would be freed by the lower court.  

They said Salman Khan would probably be spending the night at a prison cell before he can apply for bail pending his appeal.  

- Bernama