Jodhpur:

Bollywood actor Salman Khan on Friday skipped his appearance before a sessions court in Jodhpur, hearing his appeal against his conviction in a blackbuck poaching case of 1998.

The actor skipped his attendance after he was exempted by the court from the personal appearance before it for the day. The court also deferred the next hearing of his appeal to February 24.

“As there was no need of Khan’s appearance today before the court, he did not appear through video conferencing either,” the actor’s counsel Nishant Bora said.

The actor was on Friday allowed by the Rajasthan High Court to appear before the sessions court through video conferencing.

“The high court had granted him permission to appear through video conferencing instead of the personal appearance. So in pursuance of this direction, we moved an application in the court today for exemption from appearance and Session Judge Devendra Kachhawaha permitted us,” said Mr Bora.

A high court bench of justices Indrajit Mahanty and Dinesh Mehta had on Friday allowed Khan to appear before the sessions court conceding his counsel HM Saraswat’s plea that his client’s personal appearance attracting huge gathering in court premises may cause a law and order issue.

Khan had been sentenced to five years’ jail term by the trial court in April 2018 convicting him of poaching two blackbucks on October 1 and 2, 1998 and Khan has challenged this sentence in the district and Session court.