Rajasthan HC Judge recuses self from Salman Khan blackbuck case hearing

JODHPUR: The decades-long blackbuck poaching case against Bollywood actor Salman Khan suffered another delay Monday, when Justice Baljinder Singh Sandhu of the Rajasthan High Court recused himself from hearing the matter. The unexpected move led to the case being directed to another bench for further proceedings.

The case before the high court involves a joint-hearing of Khan’s appeal against his conviction and the state govt’s ‘leave to appeal’ petition challenging the acquittal of the co-accused in the case, which include actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam, besides local resident Dushyant Singh. The case stems from allegations that during the shooting of ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ in 1998, Khan hunted two blackbucks at Kankani village of Jodhpur district.

On April 5, 2018, a trial court convicted him and sentenced him to five years’ imprisonment, while the other accused were acquitted. Salman Khan challenged his sentence in the sessions court, while the state govt approached the high court seeking permission to appeal the acquittals.

Following this, Khan’s counsel filed a transfer petition in the high court seeking to have his appeal moved from the sessions court and heard together with the state’s petition, citing that both arise from the same case. Prosecution counsel Mahipal Bishnoi said the high court, in July 2025, allowed the transfer, moved Khan’s petition to the high court, and ordered that it be clubbed with the state’s appeal for a joint hearing.