Mumbai: A special court in Mumbai on Saturday accepted a plea by gangster Abu Salem, who is serving life imprisonment in the 1993 serial blasts case, for a reduced jail term in lieu of the period of detention during the trial.
Extradited from Portugal in 2005, Salem was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 for his role in the Mumbai serial blasts case. He is currently lodged in Taloja jail in neighboring Navi Mumbai.
The imprisoned gangster had filed a complaint with the court seeking compensation for the period spent in prison from the date of his arrest on November 11, 2005, until the final ruling in the case on September 7, 2017.
Accepting his plea, Special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) judge BD Shelke directed the jail superintendent to compensate the accused for the period elapsed during the trial in the blasts case. series in Mumbai.
Apart from the blast case, Salem was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2015 for the murder of city builder Pradeep Jain.
Salem maintained that the prison authorities had given him compensation for the period he spent in trial in the builder's murder case.
However, no compensation was given in the serial blasts case, which amounts to contempt of the special court's order as it had specifically mentioned that "compensation will be given to the accused for his period of detention in this trial to from the date of his arrest." , Salem's statement said.
"It is very strange and unreasonable that in one case the period under trial is counted and in another it is not counted, which implies that the designated court order is not complied with," he added.
Salem maintained that in both cases, the life sentence will be executed simultaneously as per the order passed by the designated TADA court on September 7, 2017.
Furthermore, his plea cited the extradition agreement between the government of India and Portugal, according to which the main guarantee was that no additional offenses would be awarded.
"It was also made clear that if the applicant is convicted of the crimes for which he is extradited, he will not be given more than 25 years. Furthermore, he will be eligible for remission and pardon under Portuguese law," Salem's statement added.
The prosecution and prison authorities rejected the claims of the convicted gangster and stated that as per court order, the plaintiff/convict was awarded compensation for the period spent in custody during the trial.
It appears from the arguments of Salem's lawyer that he is not questioning the calculation of the compensation period in the builder's case, but rather he is questioning the calculation in the explosions case, the court noted.
Upon consultation with the court, the accused presented a report from the prison authorities where the calculation of the compensation period is from 11/11/2005 to 06/09/2017, which amounts to 11 years 09 months and 26 days.
"However, the earlier jail was not ready to calculate the said compensation period in terms of the order passed by the court. It is now concluded that there is no controversy or dispute between the petitioner and the jail authority regarding the counting of compensation period ". out," the court said.
Extradited from Portugal in 2005, Salem was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 for his role in the Mumbai serial blasts case. He is currently lodged in Taloja jail in neighboring Navi Mumbai.
The imprisoned gangster had filed a complaint with the court seeking compensation for the period spent in prison from the date of his arrest on November 11, 2005, until the final ruling in the case on September 7, 2017.
Accepting his plea, Special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) judge BD Shelke directed the jail superintendent to compensate the accused for the period elapsed during the trial in the blasts case. series in Mumbai.
Apart from the blast case, Salem was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2015 for the murder of city builder Pradeep Jain.
Salem maintained that the prison authorities had given him compensation for the period he spent in trial in the builder's murder case.
However, no compensation was given in the serial blasts case, which amounts to contempt of the special court's order as it had specifically mentioned that "compensation will be given to the accused for his period of detention in this trial to from the date of his arrest." , Salem's statement said.
"It is very strange and unreasonable that in one case the period under trial is counted and in another it is not counted, which implies that the designated court order is not complied with," he added.
Salem maintained that in both cases, the life sentence will be executed simultaneously as per the order passed by the designated TADA court on September 7, 2017.
Furthermore, his plea cited the extradition agreement between the government of India and Portugal, according to which the main guarantee was that no additional offenses would be awarded.
"It was also made clear that if the applicant is convicted of the crimes for which he is extradited, he will not be given more than 25 years. Furthermore, he will be eligible for remission and pardon under Portuguese law," Salem's statement added.
The prosecution and prison authorities rejected the claims of the convicted gangster and stated that as per court order, the plaintiff/convict was awarded compensation for the period spent in custody during the trial.
It appears from the arguments of Salem's lawyer that he is not questioning the calculation of the compensation period in the builder's case, but rather he is questioning the calculation in the explosions case, the court noted.
Upon consultation with the court, the accused presented a report from the prison authorities where the calculation of the compensation period is from 11/11/2005 to 06/09/2017, which amounts to 11 years 09 months and 26 days.
"However, the earlier jail was not ready to calculate the said compensation period in terms of the order passed by the court. It is now concluded that there is no controversy or dispute between the petitioner and the jail authority regarding the counting of compensation period ". out," the court said.