Jodhpur, (PTI) Actor Salman Khan was today granted bail by a district and sessions court here in the 1998 black buck poaching case in which he has been sentenced to five years in jail.

District and Sessions Judge Ravindra Kumar Joshi allowed Khan's plea for bail and suspension of sentence so that he can file an appeal against his conviction and sentencing.

Khan, who had spent two nights in the Jodhpur Central Jail after his sentencing on Thursday, granted bail on a bond of Rs 50,000 and two sureties of like amount, Defence counsel Mahesh Bora said, adding he is likely to be released this evening once the papers are ready and sent to jail authorities.

Earlier in the day, the judge heard the arguments of prosecution and defence which lasted for about an hour and pronounced the order at around 3 pm, a defence counsel said.

Khan's sisters - Alvira and Arpita - were present during the hearing.

The actor was convicted by a trial court and sentenced to five years in prison for killing two black bucks during the shooting of "Hum Saath Saath Hain" here.

In a late night development, an order was issued to transfer Joshi to Sirohi, as part of a reshuffle. He was among 134 judges transferred by the Registrar General of the High Court.