New Delhi, September 10, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the plea filed by 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Abu Salem challenging his continued incarceration and seeking release on the ground that he had completed the maximum 25-year term after accounting for his undertrial detention and remission earned during imprisonment.
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed Salem’s petition after hearing the matter, which had been reserved for judgment on July 27.
Salem, currently lodged at Nashik Road Central Prison, had approached the apex court against the Bombay High Court’s refusal to direct his immediate release. He argued that his undertrial detention, post-conviction incarceration and nearly three years of remission earned for good conduct should be counted towards the 25-year period, in view of the sovereign assurance given by India to Portugal during his extradition.
The Bombay High Court, in its April 15 judgment, rejected the claim, holding that the 25-year period fixed by the Supreme Court was the substantive sentence Salem was required to undergo and could not be reduced through ordinary prison remissions.
The High Court had also held that earned remission under prison rules is administrative in nature and does not automatically reduce a sentence imposed by a court. It calculated Salem’s 25-year period from his arrest on November 11, 2005, meaning the term would expire in November 2030.
Salem was extradited from Portugal and brought to India in November 2005. He was subsequently convicted in two cases arising from the 1993 Mumbai blasts and sentenced to life imprisonment, with the sentences ordered to run concurrently.
In July 2022, the Supreme Court upheld his convictions but restricted his imprisonment to 25 years in view of the sovereign assurance given by the Government of India to Portugal that Salem would not be imprisoned beyond that period.
The apex court had also directed the government to consider statutory remission under Sections 432 and 433 of the CrPC one month before completion of the 25-year period.
The Bombay High Court had said that any remission or reduction below the 25-year period could be considered only in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directions and that the executive’s duty to pass formal remission orders would arise one month before completion of the term.
Earlier this year, Salem had approached the Supreme Court seeking premature release under the extradition arrangement. In February, the top court allowed him to withdraw that plea with liberty to seek an early hearing of his pending matter before the Bombay High Court.
FOLLOW NOW
