The Rajasthan government on Friday filed a “leave-to-appeal” petition before the High Court to challenge the trial court’s order acquitting Bollywood stars, Saif Ali Khan, Tabbu, Neelam, and Sonali Bendre, in the infamous 1998 black buck poaching case of Kakani village of the district.

A single bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Garg on Friday ordered attaching the petition with other related cases for a joint hearing. The hearing in these related cases is scheduled to be held on July 28.

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The case dates back to October 1, 1998 when actors, Salman Khan, Saif Ali khan, Tabbu, Neelam, and Sonali Bendre, during a sojourn in Jodhpur for the shooting of feature film “Hum Sath Sath Hein”, allegedly poached a black buck in Kakani village.

The trial court, on April 5, 2018, convicted Salman Khan in the case and slapped a 5-year jail term on him. The co-accused in the case, Saif Ali Khan, Tabbu, Neelam, and Sonali Bendre were acquitted giving a benefit of doubt.

If the leave-to-appeal is admitted for further hearing, the case will be heard against all the five actors.

In all there are four cases pending against the accused, Kakani village case, Ghoda Farm case, Bhavad village case and Arms Act case.

In the Kakani village case, Salman was convicted on April 5, 2018 from where he was released on a bail bond of Rs 50,000. His appeal is pending before the high court.

In the Ghoda Farm case, the Chief Judicial Magistrate had convicted Salman on April 10, 2006. The actor filed an appeal before the high court that acquitted him in July 2016. The appeal of the state government against the acquittal is pending with the Supreme Court.

In Bhavad village case, accused Salman was convicted by a chief judicial magistrate on February 17, 2006 and punished with one year imprisonment. The high court later acquitted him. However, the prosecution moved the Supreme Court where hearing is pending.

In the Arms Act case, Salman Khan was acquitted by the trial court itself on January 18, 2017, therefore, the prosecution filed an appeal before the high court that is pending before the court.