Bollywood star Salman Khan granted bail as he appeals five year poaching sentence

Actor’s five year sentence will stand if he is unsuccessful

Bollywood star Salman Khan has been granted bail while he appeals the five year jail sentence that he was handed after being convicted in a 20-year-old poaching case.

One of the highest paid actors in the world, Khan was convicted of the 1998 shooting two rare blackbuck deer from his car window at a wildlife preserve near the city of Jodhpur, in the country’s north west.

The animals are protected by India’s wildlife laws. Public prosecutors alleged that the 52-year-old and four other actors in the car with him fled the scene, leaving the carcasses behind.

Hundreds of Khan’s funs were cheering outside the court as the actor’s attorney’s request for bail was granted.

The poaching incident allegedly took place during the shooting of Hum Saath Saath Hain. Four of his co-stars — Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam — were also tried in the case.

They were all acquitted although it was found they were in the jeep that Khan was believed to be driving.

It was alleged he killed the blackbucks before they all fled the scene after being spotted and chased. They were said to have left the animals behind.

Khan had previously been sentenced to jail terms of one and five years in related poaching cases.

In 2006 he was convicted for killing the blackbucks and sentenced to five years in jail.

After spending one week in prison, the sentence was suspended by the Rajasthan High Court.