Many of his fans will be distressed by the news of Salman Khan being sentenced to a year in prison for poaching of endangered blackbuck, but the Bollywood beefcake has never been far away from controversies and brushes with the law.

On Sept 28, 2002, Salman was charged with killing a man and injuring four others in an incident of rash driving in Mumbai. The accident triggered off a storm of protests against him.

Earlier, Salman made it to the headlines for all the wrong reasons - roughing up scribes, manhandling his ex-girlfriend Aishwarya Rai, tiffs with Shah Rukh Khan and Abhishek Bachchan on the sets of films and a verbal assault on Vivek Oberoi.

Fortunately or unfortunately, his acts of misdemeanour have not marred his popularity and Salman continues to have a huge fan following - not too surprising, as most celebrities involved in legal battles have come out unscathed in terms of their popularity.

For instance, Sanjay Dutt scaled new heights in Bollywood after he was released from jail following his arrest under an anti-terror law for his alleged involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.

Similarly, Fardeen Khan and Saif Ali Khan also have had brushes with law, but it didn't affect them or their celebrity status.

Recently, the hit-and-run case against Salman took a new turn after an eyewitness, Ravindra Patil, who was accompanying the star as his police bodyguard at the time, told the court that Salman was under the influence of alcohol and drove rashly when his car crushed people sleeping on the pavements and then rammed into a bakery.

However, Salman had some respite, as Patil failed to turn up in court thrice, and the case was deferred to March 2 for further hearing.

Salman has denied the charges and refuted allegations that he was driving rashly.

Salman has also made a phoenix-like rise after the controversy related to the hit-and-run case, beginning with Satish Kaushik's "Tere Naam" that was released in 2003.

This was followed by a guest appearance in Ravi Chopra's super hit "Baghban" in the same year. Though the film centred on Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, Salman was a big hit among fans in his goody-goody role.

In 2004, Salman's "Mujhsey Shaadi Karogi" did brisk business and in 2005, lady luck smiled on him again and his films "No Entry" and "Mainey Pyaar Kyun Kiya" stuck gold at the box office.

Despite the Rajasthan court sentencing him to a year in prison in the blackbuck case, Salman also has a month to appeal the verdict.

If he fails to obtain bail, those most affected would be the directors currently working with him. According to Salman's secretary Vikas Kapoor, the actor is involved in projects worth Rs.1 billion.

His upcoming films include "Salaam-E-IshQ: A Tribute to Love", "Babul", "God Tussi Great Ho", "Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye" and "Janeman".