Actor Salman Khan, who is flying down to Jodhpur with his family members and lawyer Dipesh Mehta, told reporters outside his house that he would be surrendering before the Jodhpur court on Saturday. Addressing the media before getting into his SUV outside his residence, the actor said, "A warrant has been apparently issued and as per advice from my lawyers, I am going to Jodhpur to surrender."
"Nobody has told me to get there but I am going there as a responsible citizen who abides by the law," he added.
Clad in a white T-shirt, cargo pants and sporting sunglasses, Salman was seen hugging his close relatives before leaving his home.
His brothers Sohail and Arbaaz were seen at the residence in Bandra's Galaxy Apartments and so was sister-in-law Malaika Arora Khan. It was however, not immediately clear as to who would be accompanying Salman to Jodhpur.
He is expected to reach Jodhpur at 1300 hrs and would "directly go to the court."
It is likely that he would immediately taken into custody, as per the court orders. The lawyers would then file a bail application. However, the bail application can only be heard on Monday.
"Though the High Court is shut, I would make efforts for the revision petition to be filed at the court registrar's office today (Saturday) itself so that relief is granted to Salman as soon as possible," Mehta said.
On Friday a Jodhpur District and Sessions Judge K R Singhvi upheld a lower court's judgement of April 2006 sentencing Salman to prison in the 1998 poaching case.
The court of the chief judicial magistrate, which had convicted Salman last year, issued the non-bailable warrant against him in the afternoon and sent it to police for execution.
The actor evaded immediate arrest as he did not appear in the sessions court, with his lawyer saying there was no directive for his appearance.
However, after day-long suspense over his whereabouts, the 41-year-old star appeared on the balcony of his home in the Mumbai suburb of Bandra to wave to fans waiting outside.
Salman's contemporary Sanjay Dutt was last month given a six-year jail term for illegal possession of weapons in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. He is currently free on interim bail granted by the Supreme Court.
In his ruling against Salman, Judge Singhvi described the grounds used by the actor for his appeal against his conviction as "baseless".
Salman's sister Alvira was present in the court as the judge forfeited his bail bond and directed him to surrender.
The judge also rejected an application filed by Salman's counsel for giving him time to surrender.
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