Mumbai: Gangster Abu Salem may not walk free anytime soon. The Bombay High Court, on Monday, observed that his sentence will get over only in 2030 and did not come to an end on March 31, 2025 as contended.
The bench of Justice A S Gadkari and Justice Rajesh S Patil admitted Salem’s plea, which will be heard later and noted that the Supreme Court, in its order, had said that Salem could be sentenced only to 25 years, which would get over in the year 2030.
“We reckon that your date of arrest is October 2005. According to it, 25 years are yet to be completed,” the bench observed.
Salem, extradited from Portugal in 2005, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court under TADA for his role in the 1993 serial blasts and the murder of builder Pradeep Jain.
Salem had filed an appeal against that order and pointed out that when he was extradited, the Indian government had assured Portugal that he would not be sentenced for more than 25 years. It was in this context that the Supreme Court observed that he could be sentenced till 2030 only.
His lawyers, Rishi Malhotra and Farhana Shah, contended that Salem had earned three years and 16 days of remission for good conduct, along with a one-month credit granted by the Supreme Court for time spent in custody in Portugal. They claimed that these factors pushed his total sentence duration beyond 25 years, making him eligible for release.
However, the Central Bureau of Investigation strongly opposed this argument. Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the CBI, submitted that Salem was mixing up the calculations to meet the 25-year threshold. Singh also said that Salem should approach the Supreme Court for clarification if he believes its earlier order was not being followed properly.
The High Court responded sharply when Malhotra insisted that the 2030 timeline failed to account for the remission period.
“Are you saying that the Supreme Court order is wrong? Even applying simple logic, 25 years is yet to be completed,” the bench said.
While the court admitted Salem’s plea and agreed to an expedited hearing, but no date has been set.