The Special Public Prosecutor on Tuesday sought a life term for underworld Abu Salem who has been convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
The Special Public Prosecutor made this submission during argument on quantum of sentence before TADA Court.
The CBI’s prosecutor noted that since Salem was extradited from Portugal under section 34C of the Extradition Act, he can’t be given capital punishment.
However, the prosecutor said Salem deserved the death penalty.
Section 34C stipulates that an individual extradited from a nation which doesn’t sentence convicts to death, can only be put in jail for life for a crime punishable by the death penalty in India
On June 16, twenty-four years after the serial blasts shook Mumbai in 1993, the special court for Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) had convicted six people regarding the case. Those convicted include Mustafa Dossa, Abu Salem, Taher Merchant, Feroz Abdul Rashid Khan, Karimullah Khan and Riyaz Siddiqui.
Earlier on June 17, Abdul Qayyum, who has been acquitted of all charges related to the case, said, “Many innocents like me are in the jail. I request that the innocent should be released.”
When asked about his future plans, Qayyum said he would do some kind of business in India.
Salem was accused of transporting weapons from Gujarat to Mumbai.
He also handed over actor Sanjay Dutt, who was an accused in the case for illegally possessing weapons, AK-56 rifles, 250 bullets and some hand grenades at his residence on 16 January, 1993. Two days later, on 18 January, 1993, Salem and two others went to Dutt’s house and got back two rifles and some rounds.
The court had dropped certain charges against Salem in 2013 after the CBI moved a plea, saying those charges were against the extradition treaty between India and Portugal.
He is currently lodged in the Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai.
In February 2015, Salem was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in the 1995 in connection with the murder of Mumbai builder, Pradeep Jain.
