New Delhi:
A Special TADA court will today hear gangster Abu Salem's plea seeking closure of the 1993 Mumbai blasts case trial against him. Salem filed the application yesterday, after the Supreme Court of Portugal upheld the High Court's decision which said that the rules under which he was extradited had been violated since he had been slapped with new charges which attract the death penalty.
Salem, who contends that continuing with the blasts case trial would now be illegal, is also being tried, separately, in other cases of murder and extortion.
Salem was extradited from Portugal in 2005 after the Indian government gave an executive assurance that he would not be awarded the death penalty or charged with any section of the law which entailed jail for more than 25 years.
In September last year, the Portuguese High Court said that India had violated this condition after additional charges were filed against Salem. An appeal against this order by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which investigated the cases against Salem, was turned down by the Supreme Court of Portugal.
Salem's counsel had moved the High Court in Portugal, seeking that the extradition be revoked, after a September 2010 ruling by the Supreme Court of India. The court had said that Salem could be tried for offences inviting the death penalty despite the extradition condition since India as well as Portugal were signatories to the international convention on elimination of terrorism.
The SC had said that he could be tried for murder and criminal conspiracy along with offences under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act or TADA.
In its appeal in the Portuguese Supreme Court, the CBI contended that it was a matter of interpretation of the extradition rules by the highest court of India, which was binding on all subordinate courts in the country, official sources said. India had argued that the High Court in Lisbon had interpreted the rule differently.
The CBI has said that it would appeal against the Supreme Court's verdict in Protugal's Constitutional Court. The agency maintains that Salem's extradition has not been cancelled since only a technical point has been raised.
Salem was arrested in Lisbon in 2002 along with his girlfriend, actor Monica Bedi, for travelling with fake passports.
Salem, who contends that continuing with the blasts case trial would now be illegal, is also being tried, separately, in other cases of murder and extortion.
Salem was extradited from Portugal in 2005 after the Indian government gave an executive assurance that he would not be awarded the death penalty or charged with any section of the law which entailed jail for more than 25 years.
In September last year, the Portuguese High Court said that India had violated this condition after additional charges were filed against Salem. An appeal against this order by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which investigated the cases against Salem, was turned down by the Supreme Court of Portugal.
Salem's counsel had moved the High Court in Portugal, seeking that the extradition be revoked, after a September 2010 ruling by the Supreme Court of India. The court had said that Salem could be tried for offences inviting the death penalty despite the extradition condition since India as well as Portugal were signatories to the international convention on elimination of terrorism.
The SC had said that he could be tried for murder and criminal conspiracy along with offences under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act or TADA.
In its appeal in the Portuguese Supreme Court, the CBI contended that it was a matter of interpretation of the extradition rules by the highest court of India, which was binding on all subordinate courts in the country, official sources said. India had argued that the High Court in Lisbon had interpreted the rule differently.
The CBI has said that it would appeal against the Supreme Court's verdict in Protugal's Constitutional Court. The agency maintains that Salem's extradition has not been cancelled since only a technical point has been raised.
Salem was arrested in Lisbon in 2002 along with his girlfriend, actor Monica Bedi, for travelling with fake passports.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
