New Delhi (Gurpreet Singh)— The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an application submitted by convicted underworld figure Abu Salem, who petitioned for immediate discharge from prison on claims that he had fulfilled a 25-year custodial sentence stipulated under India’s bilateral extradition treaty with Portugal.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta affirmed the previous ruling of the Bombay High Court from April, which had turned down the plea after finding it premature and unfounded in law. Salem had approached the highest judicial forum to challenge the high court’s decision, though a comprehensive written order from the apex court detailing the legal rationale is still pending release.
Salem, who remains behind bars for his central role in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, was transferred to Indian authorities on November 11, 2005, following extended diplomatic and courtroom negotiations in Lisbon. Under the sovereign guarantees exchanged between the two nations during the extradition process, the Indian government had undertaken that Salem would neither face capital punishment nor serve an aggregate sentence spanning more than 25 years.
