Gangster Abu Salem has not completed 25 years in jail: Bombay High Court in plea for early release

The Bombay High Court on Monday observed that gangster Abu Salem, convicted in the 1993 Bombay blast case, has not completed 25 years of incarceration as required under the terms of his extradition from Portugal. [Abu Salem Abdul Qayoom Ansari v. State of Maharashtra].The Court was hearing Salem’s petition seeking premature release from prison, claiming that he has already served the mandated sentence length. While admitting the plea, the Bench of Justices AS Gadkari and Justice Rajesh S Patil refused to grant any interim relief. It referred to the 2022 Supreme Court judgment that capped Salem’s imprisonment at 25 years as part of the extradition agreement with Portugal. “As per the Supreme Court judgment, it is recorded that the date of arrest is 12 October 2005. On completion of 25 years of incarceration, the central government is bound to exercise the powers of remission and release the applicant. Prima facie, it is clear that the 25 years of incarceration is yet to be completed.” .The petition follows the rejection of a similar application by a special TADA court in Mumbai on December 10, 2024.As per the Supreme Court's decision in 2022, Salem's incarceration cannot exceed 25 years, based on an extradition treaty with Portugal.Senior Advocate Rishi Malhotra, appearing for Salem, argued that the gangster had effectively completed 25 years of incarceration as of March 31, 2025. He submitted that Salem had spent nearly 12 years as an undertrial between November 2005 and September 2017, followed by nearly 10 years as a convict between February 2015 and December 2024 in a separate Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (TADA) case.Malhotra further pointed to 3 years and 16 days of sentence remission earned for good behaviour and a one-month credit granted by the Supreme Court for time spent in custody in Portugal. Taken together, he argued, these periods exceeded 25 years and Salem should now be released.However, the Centre strongly opposed this interpretation. Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh argued that Salem was combining periods of incarceration from different cases, including time as an undertrial and convictions in separate matters, to meet the 25-year threshold.He also argued that since Salem was essentially seeking a clarification of the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling, he must approach the apex court directly..The Bench appeared to agree with this preliminary assessment. “We reckon that your date of arrest is October 2005. According to it, 25 years is yet to be completed."When Malhotra insisted that the calculation was flawed, the Court responded, “Are you saying that the Supreme Court order is wrong? Even applying simple logic, 25 years is yet to be completed.”