Central govt 'bound to not extend jail term of Abu Salem beyond 25 yrs', says SC

|HT|

The Supreme Court on Monday said the central government is bound to honour the undertaking given to Portugal of not sentencing gangster Abu Salem for a jail term beyond 25 years. On completion of the 25 year-sentence, the court said, the government would be bound to advise the President of India and release Salem “as per the solemn assurance and the principle of comity of nations”.

The top court was hearing Abu Salem's plea challenging his life imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case on the ground that his sentence could not exceed 25 years.

The court had earlier reserved its judgement in the case on May 5.

Appearing for the Centre, Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj had told the court that the "government is bound by the solemn sovereign assurance given by then deputy Prime Minister L K Advani to the Portugal government and it will abide by it at an appropriate time". In his plea, Abu Salem had said: “Solemn sovereign assurance cannot be forced on the judiciary. The Executive will act on it at an appropriate stage. We are bound by the solemn sovereign assurance in this regard. Judiciary is independent, it can proceed as per law.”

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