Updated on Wednesday, April 09, 2008, 00:00 IST

Gurgaon, April 09: Authorities on Wednesday granted actress Soha Ali Khan a personal hearing in the arms license case against her after she pleaded innocence and invoked RTI to inspect copies of the documents attached to her application for securing the license in 1996.

Soha or her authorised representative would also be allowed to inspect records in the Gurgaon city magistrate's office before the date of personal hearing fixed for April 25, Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Gupta said on Wednesday.

The actress, also known as Soha Sultan, was sent a notice by the district administration for obtaining the arms license in November 1996 when she was under the eligible 21 years.

She was asked to explain why a .12 bore rifle issued in her name was "misused" by her father Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi for allegedly killing an endangered black buck in Jhajjar district of Haryana in 2005.

In her reply, Soha pleaded that she was "not guilty" of securing the arms license when she was underage, Gupta said.

Under right to information act, she demanded inspection of photocopies of the documents attached with the application submitted for securing the arms license, besides seeking a personal hearing before a final decision is taken in the case, he said.

The copy of her passport available with the district administration states her date of birth as October 4, 1978.

Her gun license number 1/dm/g/nov-1996 was renewed in 1998, 2003 and 2005 when Pataudi was its "retainer", according to the show cause notice sent to her on March 21.

Bureau Report