The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea by Gangster Abu Salem, a convict in the 1993 Bombay blast case, seeking his release from prison on the ground that he has completed 25 years in prison [Abu Salem Abdul Qayoom Ansari vs. State of Maharashtra & Ors.].
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the ruling.
The case centred around a condition that was part of a treaty executed between India and Portugal to facilitate Salem's extradition to India.
Salem had been arrested in Portugal in 2002. On December 17, 2002, the government of India gave an assurance to the government of Portugal that if Salem is extradited for trial in India, he would neither be given the death penalty nor would he be subjected to imprisonment for a term beyond 25 years.
After a long extradition battle, Salem was brought to India in 2005, following which he faced trial in two TADA cases, one relating to the 1993 Bombay blasts and another separate case.
He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by judgments dated February 25, 2015 and September 7, 2017, respectively.
Salem, however, contended that the 2017 judgment sentencing him to life imprisonment was against the terms of the extradition treaty under which he was brought back to India in 2005.
While dealing with an appeal filed by Salem on this issue, the Supreme Court in a 2022 ruling had made it clear that once Salem completes 25 years of imprisonment, the Central government must ensure his early release from prison.
At the time, the top court also made it clear that it was not commuting Salem’s sentence, and that the period he spent in Portugal in a passport fraud case could not be counted towards the 25 years.
In his present pleas, Salem contended that he completed 25 years in prison as on March 31, 2025, which entitled him to seek a remission of his remaining prison sentence.
Salem’s core claim was that if three components are correctly counted together - his undertrial custody, his post-conviction custody, and the remission he has earned in jail for good conduct - he has crossed the 25-year mark by March, 31, 2025. According to him, any further imprisonment beyond that is illegal custody.
The Supreme Court today rejected this plea.
Salem filed this plea after the Bombay High Court refused to grant him interim relief on his remission plea, opining that it did not appear that Salem had completed 25 years in prison.
The Supreme Court initially asked Salem to continue pursuing the matter before the High Court.
The High Court later rejected his remission plea altogether by an April 2026 ruling. Following this, the Supreme Court reserved its verdict in the matter, narrowing its focus to whether Salem had in fact completed 25 years in prison.
The top court today dismissed Salem’s plea.
Salem was represented by Senior Advocate Rishi Malhotra.