Jagdeep Dhankar, former Vice-President of India, recently resigned from his post citing health reasons. Dhankhar was also a senior advocate and was known for scrutinising the judiciary. During his tenue as an advocate, Dhankhar was reportedly a counsel for Bollywood star Salman Khan and other accused in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case and helped them to get bail.
“Dhankhar was the first lawyer to argue the case for Salman Khan when Jodhpur Police arrested him in 1998, and get bail for him and the other accused,” an India Today report quoted advocate Praveen Balwada, who was Dhankhar’s assistant then, as saying.
He added, “That was the only period when Dhankhar represented Salman Khan in the black buck case, and wasn’t engaged in the case at the subsequent stages.”
Dhankar on Salman Khan in BlackBuck case
According to India Today report, Dhankhar acknowledged his role in the case and did not give a definitive answer when asked if the actors had gone hunting during the shoot, while speaking to Rediff On The Net that year.
He also raised questions about the investigation’s credibility, saying, “There were 300 people on the sets. How come none knew when the incident occurred?”
Dhankhar also defended Salman Khan, citing his cooperation with the police during his arrest. Dhankhar had said, “I pleaded before the judge stating that Salman had fully co-operated with the police after his arrest and therefore there is every reason to grant him bail.”
In the court, he also raised doubt on the timeline and reliability of the villagers’ statements. “When the villagers say the actors were involved in the killing, why did they not chase them right then rather than lodging a complaint after three weeks?” he argued.
The black buck case
The black buck poaching case accused Salman Khan of killing two blackbucks in Kankani village near Jodhpur, Rajasthan, in September 1998. The Bishnoi community filed a complaint against Salman Khan, along with his co-actors Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Neelam, and Tabu, accusing them of illegally hunting two blackbucks during the filming of Hum Saath Saath Hain.
The complaint was filed based on killing an endangered species protected under India’s Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.