Thaindian News

Gurgaon, April 30 (IANS) Actress Soha Ali Khan Wednesday failed to appear before a court here for the second time to explain how she, despite being under-age at the time, obtained a license for a gun, which was allegedly used by her father, former cricketer Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, to kill a blackbuck. Gurgaon Deputy Magistrate Rakesh Gupta said the judgement would be pronounced May 8.

“Soha Ali Khan had sent her advocate V. Bhushan Arya as her representative and submitted a written request for exemption from personal appearance which was granted. We heard her lawyer and kept the decision reserved for May 8,” Gupta said.

Arya said: “We have completed the arguments.”

The actress has been charged with obtaining an arms license for her .22 bore rifle Nov 5, 1996, when she had not completed 21 years of age - a legal pre-requisite for obtaining a gun license.

The passport record of Soha, daughter of Pataudi and his actress-wife Sharmila Tagore, put her year of birth at 1978, which meant in 1996 she was 18.

District authorities also sent her a notice demanding an explanation about how the weapon for which she was licensed was used by her father to kill a blackbuck in Haryana’s Jhajjar district in 2005, for which he had been arrested.

The poaching case was registered June 5, 2005 and the weapon is still in the custody of the Jhajjar police. The case is being tried in a wildlife and environment court in Faridabad town in Haryana.

Soha has also been asked to explain why, while moving a fresh application for renewal of her licence Sep 7, 2005, before the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Gurgaon, she concealed the fact that the weapon was in the possession of the Jhajjar police.