Supreme Court Seeks Centre's Response To Abu Salem's Plea That Imprisonment Can't Exceed 25 Years Due To Extradition Treaty With Portugal

A bench of Justices S. K. Kaul and M. M. Sundresh sought the response of the Centre on Salem's plea that the 2017 judgment of a Mumbai TADA Court sentencing him to life imprisonment violated the terms of the extradition.

"The TADA Court had stated the view that it is not bound by the undertaking of the Union of India. But Your Lordships may grant relief", Advocate Rishi Malhotra, for Salem, told the bench.

The Centre has been granted 4 weeks' time to reply.

A Special Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) court had in June, 2017 found Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa and four others guilty of conspiring and carrying out a string of bomb blasts that ripped through the heart of Mumbai in 1993 and killed 257 people.

Special TADA judge GA Sanap pronounced Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui and Tahir Merchant guilty under sections 120B, 302, 307, 326, 427, 435, 436, 201 and 212 of the Indian Penal Code, sections 3, 3(3), 5, 6 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Rapid Protection Act, and provisions of the Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

Abdul Qayyum Karim Sheikh is the only accused who has been acquitted of all charges in the case as the court held that the prosecution failed to prove charge of conspiracy against him and held that evidence was not credible.

However, all of the accused were held not guilty under Section 121 (waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India) of the IPC.

The court accepted the prosecution's submission that the conspiracy to avenge the demolition of Babri Masjid that took place on December 6, 1992, was hatched in Dubai at Mustafa Dossa's house where main accused Dawood Ibrahim, Anees Ibrahim, Tiger Memon, Eijaz Pathan and Mohammed Dossa were present and "in order to teach a lesson to the Hindus and Hindu leaders", it was decided that arms and ammunitions will be sent to India.

Abu Salem transported and distributed arms and ammunitions used in the blast, Mustafa Dossa arranged for the arms and explosives in Mumbai, and also sent some individuals to Pakistan for training.

While Salem was extradited from Portugal, Dossa was extradited from the UAE.

Karimullah Khan is said to have been aware of the effects of RDX and he facilitated its landing in the city to be used for the blast.

On March 12, 1993, 12 bombs exploded at different locations across the city of Mumbai taking away 257 lives and injuring 713 people. Property worth Rs. 23 crore was damaged.

A charge sheet was filed against 129 accused, out of which 100 were convicted. Twelve of the accused were awarded death sentence, while 20 were sentenced to life in 2006.

Later, the trial court commuted the death sentence to life for 10 of the accused.

The court also noted that Abu Salem delivered AK-56 rifles to the home of actor Sanjay Dutt, who was also convicted under the Arms Act.

In September, 2017, the Mumbai court awarded the death sentence to Tahir Merchant and Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan and life imprisonment to extradited gangster Abu Salem in the 1993 serial blasts case. Besides Salem, the court also sentenced Karimullah Khan to life imprisonment in the case while awarding a ten-year sentence to the fifth convict, Riyaz Siddiqui.

On 13.12.2002, the Government of India issued a Gazette Notification in exercise of the powers conferred by Sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Extradition Act, 1962, directing that the provisions of the Extradition Act, other than Chapter-III, shall apply to the Portuguese Republic with effect from 13.12.2002. The Government of India gave an undertaking under the signatures of the then Dy. Prime Minister that on the basis of provisions of the Constitution of India, Indian Extradition Act, and the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 assured the Government of Portugal that it will exercise its powers conferred by the Indian Laws to ensure that if extradited by the Portugal for trial in India, appellant-Abu Salem would not be visited by death penalty or imprisonment for a term beyond 25 years. The Ambassador of India in Lisbon, by letter dated 25.05.2003, gave another assurance that in the event of extradition of the appellant- Abu Salem, he will : (i) not be prosecuted for offences other than those for which his extradition has been sought; (ii) not be re-extradited to any third country. The request for the extradition of the appellant-Abu Salem was considered and examined by the authorities in Government of Portugal and by the Court of Appeals, Lisbon, Supreme Court of Justice, Portugal and Constitutional Court of Portugal. The Authorities/Courts in Portugal granted extradition of the appellant-Abu Salem in 8 criminal cases (3 cases of CBI, 2 cases of Mumbai Police and 3 cases of Delhi Police).