The Supreme Court of India has denied relief to Abu Salem, who claimed he has completed his 25-year sentence, directing him instead to present his final arguments in the Bombay High Court.
In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court of India has dismissed Abu Salem's claim that he has served a complete 25-year sentence in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. The court instructed Salem to present his final arguments in front of the Bombay High Court, which has previously ruled that there is insufficient evidence to support Salem's assertion that his sentence is fulfilled. Salem has been arguing that he has been held unlawfully for the past ten months based on good behavior provisions under the Maharashtra Prisons Remission System Rules of 1962.
Abu Salem was convicted for his role in the infamous 1993 Mumbai serial blasts and subsequently received a sentence. Following an arduous legal battle, Salem was extradited from Portugal to India in 2005, under a treaty that stipulated he wouldn't face the death penalty and his imprisonment would be limited to 25 years at most. His claim is based on the premise that considering his good behavior, compounded with the time he has already spent in custody, he should be entitled to release.
The bench, comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, is likely to deliberate further on Salem's arguments, but for now, his ambitions of an early release have been thwarted. This development is crucial in the ongoing legal discourse surrounding high-profile criminal cases in India, highlighting the complexities of extradition treaties and sentencing regulations that question the interpretations of justice within the Indian judicial framework.
