Extradited underworld don Abu Salem’s application to halt the trial against him as his extradition from Portugal had been cancelled by the Lisbon High Court in September was rejected by the  TADA court.

 After the Portugal court’s order, Salem had moved the trial court here seeking a stay in two cases against him — the 1993 serial bomb blasts and the Pradeep Jain murder and to stop the trial against him. Abu Salem had claimed in his application that the trial against him in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case cannot go on after the Portuguese court order.

Special judge S. A. Sanap rejected his application and said, There is no degree of finality in the termination of extradition order of the Lisbon HC as the Government of India has challenged that order in the Supreme Court of Portugal. The court also observed that it was not suitable at this point to halt the trial till finality is reached.

Abu Salem’s lawyers had filed an application for halting the trial against him after the Lisbon court’s termination of extradition order in September for alleged breach of extradition terms.  However, the CBI in reply to the application had stated that until and unless the Supreme Court of India or the Government of India pass an order to halt the trial, the prosecution can’t be halted as the Lisbon court has no jurisdiction over the TADA court. Abu Salem, a key accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, was extradited to India on November 11, 2005, after a legal process in Portugal that lasted for three years.

Abu Salem’s plea to stop trial rejected

Report by Abhishek Kumar