Major Bollywood stars, including “Life of Pi” star Tabu, are facing serious charges in a 14-year-old poaching case that has been dragged out in the court until now. Tabu, Salman Khan, Sonali Bendre, Neelam Kothari and Saif Ali Khan all face allegations of shooting an endangered antelope in a case dating back to 1998.

Salman Khan is accused of shooting two blackbucks near Jodhpur, where the group were filming “Hum Saath Saath Hain." He has already been convicted for two other charges, and will face a year in jail for shooting two endangered chinkara deer, and five years in prison for shooting another blackbuck. He has appealed the decision, but medical reasons have prevented him from facing the fresh charges. "Salman Khan was not present in the court today as he in not in the country and has gone overseas for treatment," said his counsel. The other actors face charges of abetment to committing an offence of hunting a protected animal. If convicted, they can face up to six years in jail. They go on trail April 27th, and have denied the charges leveled against them.

On Friday, eyewitnesses testified that they heard the party yell "Salman, chhodna mat, maaro, maaro!" (Salman, don't let them go, kill them, kill them!) before he killed the protected animals. "For us the hunting of a blackbuck is like the killing of our guru," a Bishnoi leader has said. The Bishnoi community, who inhabit the area where Khan killed the animals, regard the blackbuck as a manifestation of their guru, and killing it as a religious offence.