Salman Khan outside an airport in Jodhpur on Monday. (PTI)

Jodhpur, June 19: Salman Khan and his partners in poaching today shifted stage from the sparkling Dubai IIFA awards to a sweltering Jodhpur court, where they were charged afresh in a black buck hunting case.

Salman was charged under Section 51 of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act for allegedly killing two black bucks in Kankani village on the sidelines of a film shoot in 1998. Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Neelam and Sonali Bendre were charged with abetting the crime.

The stars were present in the court of district judicial magistrate Dalpat Singh Purohit when the charges were read and have pleaded not guilty. The trial will begin on July 3.

The charges were framed afresh after the actors appealed against the earlier one, in which they were charged under the arms act and the Indian Penal Code. A sessions court then ordered that these be removed and the actors be charged under the wildlife act only.

Saif and the three actresses arrived in Jodhpur on Sunday afternoon for the hearing. Salman flew to Jaipur and drove down to Jodhpur on Sunday night.

According to the complaint by two witnesses from the Bishnoi community, Salman was at the wheel of the Maruti Gypsy ? with Saif beside him and the three actresses behind ? when they landed in Kankani around midnight on October 1, 1998.

Salman fired and killed two black bucks while the others egged him on, Chogaram and Poonam Chand claimed. They said they also tried to chase the actors on a motorcycle but the Gypsy sped away.

So they collected the carcasses and lodged a complaint with forest authorities the next day.

Earlier, the local court had charged Salman under Section 51 of the wildlife act; Section 27 of the arms act; Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with a deadly weapon), and 149 (unlawful assembly to achieve a common object) of the IPC.

Saif and the others were charged under Section 52 of wildlife act for abetment and Sections 147, 148 and 149 of the IPC.

Following their appeal, sessions court judge Govardhan Singh Surana had directed the lower court to remove the IPC and arms act sections and frame fresh charges only under the wildlife act.

But in a development that could spell fresh trouble for Salman, the Rajasthan government legal department has permitted state prosecutors to challenge the ruling to remove IPC sections.

They are likely to move court soon.

If convicted under the wildlife act, the stars could face a maximum of six years in jail. Legal sources said if IPC sections are re-applied, the term could be increased by three years.

Salman also appeared before the sessions court in connection with his appeal against convictions in two other cases. He has been sentenced to a year in jail for killing a chinkara at Bhavad and to five years for killing a black buck at Ghoda farm.

As the case files are with Rajasthan High Court, the judge has adjourned the hearing to August 21.