Blackbuck case: Salman Khan bail plea hearing adjourned until July 17

Salman Khan's bail plea hearing in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case was on Monday adjourned to July 17 by a Jodhpur trial court. The Bollywood actor arrived in Rajasthan's Jodhpur on Sunday afternoon to appear before the court. Khan had on April 5 been convicted in the 19-year-old case and sentenced to five years in jail for killing two blackbucks in Jodhpur during the shooting of the 1998 movie Hum Saath Saath Hain.

Subsequently, Salman was granted bail after spending two nights in the Jodhpur Central jail. Salman's Hum Saath Saath Hain co-stars Tabu, Sonali Bendre, Saif Ali Khan and Neelam and Jodhpur resident Dushyant Singh, another accused in the case, were all acquitted due to lack of evidence.

The blackbuck case is not the only instance of legal trouble Khan is facing. Also in April, a Mumbai court cancelled the bailable warrant against Khan in connection with the 2002 hit and run case. The court had issued the bailable warrant as Khan had not completed the procedure of providing surety on the past two dates. Further, a Ludhiana court on May 1 rejected a petition against Salman and Shilpa Shetty that sought action against them under the SC/ST Act for allegedly using derogatory words against the Valmiki community. In the same case, the Supreme Court on April 23 put on hold proceedings pending against Khan before several courts across the country in cases registered under the SC/ST Act.

Salman is set to be back on the small screen as the host of Dus Ka Dum and is shooting for the big screen venture Race 3, among other projects.

Asaram verdict: Even if Brahma says he's rapist, won't believe say devotees

Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu was on Wednesday convicted by a Jodhpur court for raping a minor girl at his ashram here in Rajasthan in 2013 and sentenced to a life term. Two other co-accused in the case, also convicted today, were given 20 years each in jail. The judgment was pronounced by Special Judge for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe cases, Madhu Sudan Sharma, inside the Jodhpur Central Jail, where Asaram Bapu is lodged.

Earlier in the day, while pronouncing the verdict inside the Jodhpur central jail amid tight security, the court had held Asaram guilty of assaulting and outraging the modesty of a 16-year-old woman, who, at the time of the incident, was a student at one of Asaram's ashrams in Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh. The incident allegedly took place on the night of August 15, 2013, at another Asaram ashram in Manai area near Jodhpur.

Special judge Madhusudan Sharma lamented, in his 453-page judgement, that by his heinous act the godman has not merely shattered the faith of his devotees in him but has also harmed the reputation of saints among common people.
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Rape case verdict: Asaram to be in prison until death; top 10 developments

The Jodhpur SC/ST court, which earlier in the day convicted Asaram in a five-year-case of raping a minor, on Wednesday sentenced the self-styled godman to life imprisonment until death. Two other co-accused in the case, also convicted today, were given 20 years each in jail.

Earlier in the day, while pronouncing the verdict inside the Jodhpur central jail amid tight security, the court had held Asaram guilty of assaulting and outraging the modesty of a 16-year-old woman, who, at the time of the incident, was a student at one of Asaram's ashrams in Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh. The incident allegedly took place on the night of August 15, 2013, at another Asaram ashram in Manai area near Jodhpur.

After the verdict, the rape survivor's father said he hoped Asaram would get "strict punishment". The self-styled godman's downfall sees him leave behind a Rs 100-billion empire.

The verdict was pronounced inside the premises of the Central Jail in Jodhpur amid tight security to avoid a repeat of the violent protests and arson seen when another self-styled godman, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, had earlier been sent to jail in a rape case.