Jaipur, March 10: Salman Khan today appeared in a Jodhpur court in an Arms Act case and claimed he had been framed by Rajasthan forest officials, who have accused him of using guns with expired licences to hunt two black bucks.

This is one of four cases against Salman in the Jodhpur region. He is accused of killing (i) a chinkara on the night of September 26, 1998, (ii) a black buck on the night of September 28 and (iii) two black bucks on October 1 night.

Salman was convicted in the first two cases in February 2006 and sentenced to a year and five years, respectively. He has briefly been jailed twice, in April 2006 and then in August 2007, before Rajasthan High Court stayed the sentences.

Conviction in the Arms Act case can entail up to seven years in jail.

A verdict was to be passed in the Arms Act case last year but was deferred after the actor sought a fresh examination of four prosecution witnesses. One of the four, Udai Raghavan, is said to have brought the weapons from Mumbai for Salman.

"Asked about his signature on the authority letter used to get the arms from Mumbai and found in the possession of Raghavan, Salman claimed that forest officials had forced him to sign it," said Mahipal Bishnoi, counsel for the Bishnoi community that is party to one of the cases.

The actor's lawyer today sought time to produce a few more witnesses. The case will be heard again on April 4.

Today's hearing was wrapped up in half an hour. Salman, asked to state his caste, described himself as a "human being and an Indian".

Salman was shooting for Sooraj Barjatya's Hum Saath Saath Hain along with Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, Sonali Bendre and Neelam at the time of his alleged misadventure.