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Gangster Abu Salem must be released on completion of his 25-year sentence in the Mumbai blasts case in wake of the Indian government’s commitment to Portugal during his extradition, the Supreme Court on Monday said.
Salem is currently serving multiple life sentences in separate cases. In 2017, the special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court convicted six men, including Salem, for the blasts that killed 257 people and injured 713. While Salem and Karimullah Khan were sentenced to life imprisonment, the TADA court sentenced Taher Merchant and Feroz Abdul Rashid Khan to death.
In another case, Salem was sentenced to life in jail by a TADA court in 2015 after finding him guilty in the 1995 murder case of builder Pradeep Jain.
Salem was convicted under various provisions under the TADA Act, Explosives Act, 1884 and Arms Act, 1959, among others. However, Salem cannot be charged with the death penalty or serve a sentence of over 25 years under an extradition treaty signed between India and Portugal, where he reportedly managed to escape from the US.
March 12, 1993: At least 257 people were killed in a series of blast that took place in Mumbai. A total of 13 bombs explode throughout the financial capital that day between 1:30 pm to 3:40 pm.
April 19, 1993: Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt is arrested on charges of illegal possession of a 9mm pistol and AK-56 rifle and ammunition. A week later, the actor confessed to possession of arms and destroying them and was later granted bail by the Bombay High Court. The actor tells court he got the arms from Abu Salem.
November 19, 1993: The case is handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for further investigation.
September 18, 2002: Abu Salem and his companion, actress Monica Bedi, are arrested in Lisbon.
Abu Salem arrives at Charbagh Railway station for a court hearing in Lucknow in 2014. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)
December 17, 2002: India makes a solemn assurance to the Government of Portugal that Salem will not be put to death or face imprisonment for a period beyond 25 years.
May 25, 2003: The solemn assurance is reiterated by way of supplementary assurance by the Ambassador of India to the Government of Portugal with a further assurance that the appellant will not be prosecuted for offences other than those for which his extradition has been sought.
November 11, 2005: After seeking extradition under the United Nations Convention on Suppression of Terrorism of 2000 and signing the treaty with the Portuguese, Salem and Bedi are extradited to India.
June 13, 2006: Salem’s trial is separated.
September 19, 2011: On a plea filed by Salem, the High Court in Lisbon passes a judgement saying there had been a breach of the Indian undertaking given to the Portuguese authorities by slapping new charges invoking the death penalty.
January 2012: Portugal’s Supreme Court rejects a CBI appeal against the high court’s decision.
March 19, 2012: The Constitutional Court of Portugal stays the order of its Supreme Court on the violation of the extradition agreement. India in its plea also mentioned an order of the Supreme Court of India whereby it had stayed trial against Salem with regard to additional charges levelled against the gangster.
June 2012: Salem gets shot at in Taloja Central jail in Navi Mumbai allegedly by gangster Devendra Jagtap alias JD, an accused in the murder case of advocate Shahid Azmi who had represented a 26/11 Mumbai attack accused.
February 16, 2015: A special TADA court finds Salem and two others guilty of shooting the builder Pradeep Jain 17 times, outside his Juhu bungalow in March, 1995.
February 25, 2015: Salem is sentenced to life imprisonment and slapped with a Rs 8 lakh fine in the murder case of Pradeep Jain.
August 2015: Salem denies in his statement before the TADA court that he went to the house of Sanjay Dutt and gave him two AK-47 rifles and hand grenades prior to the 1993 Mumbai blasts.
June 16, 2017: Six out of seven accused, including Salem, are convicted by the TADA court for criminal conspiracy and under the TADA Act. Salem is also convicted under the Explosives Act, 1884 and Arms Act, 1959. The court says Salem’s ‘close proximity’ to main conspirators, Anees Ibrahim and Mustafa Dossa, had led to him taking it upon himself to transport and conceal arms and ammunition in various places. The court finds Salem guilty of providing arms to Sanjay Dutt.
September 7, 2017: Salem is sentenced to life imprisonment.
May 26, 2018: A Delhi court convicts Salem for demanding Rs 5 crore as protection money from businessman Ashok Gupta, a resident of Greater Kailash in south Delhi, in 2002.
June 7, 2018: Salem is sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment in the extortion case.
February 2, 2022: The Supreme Court seeks the Centre’s response to Salem’s plea that he cannot be imprisoned for more than 25 years in view of the treaty between India and Portugal according to which he was extradited.
March 8, 2022: A SC bench presided by Justice SK Kaul observes that it is “not satisfied with” the CBI’s stand in the matter and seeks a response from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. The CBI had earlier told the court that the assurance (to Portugal) would not mean that no court in India would award the punishment provided under the prevailing laws.
April 19, 2022: The MHA tells the apex court that while it is bound by the assurance given to Portugal, the question of honouring it will arise only in 2030 and that “compliance” of the same “will be done at an appropriate time” subject to remedies available then.
July 11, 2022: The Supreme Court tells the Centre that it is bound to honour the commitments made to Portugal and release Salem after 25 years of imprisonment. According to the Bar and Bench, the apex court also stated that the time period for which Salem was detained in Portugal in connection to a passport fraud case cannot be considered as part of the 25-year term.
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