Bombay HC pulls up Centre, State for delaying Abu Salem’s premature release petition

Bombay High Court criticizes Centre and Maharashtra government for delaying Abu Salem's petition seeking release from Taloja Central Jail.

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday (April 2, 2025) pulled up the Centre and the Maharashtra government for delaying the proceedings in the petition filed by underworld gangster Abu Salem, who is seeking remission and premature release from Taloja Central Jail, where he is serving a life sentence. Salem is one of the main convicts in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.  

“We will grant you (the Central and State governments) very less time, and not weeks. The matter is kept on April 16, but both the State and Union must file your replies before the adjourned date. Show some urgency and be prepared to argue the matter on the next date,” a Division Bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Shriram Modak said. The Bench also criticised the Additional Solicitor General, who neither appeared for the hearing nor filed an affidavit.  

The Maharashtra government’s Additional Public Prosecutor Mankunwar Deshmukh submitted to the Bench that the State was yet to file its affidavit.

“There is extreme urgency in this petition, yet you (the State of Maharashtra) are not showing any urgency in the case. You were given 21 days to file the affidavit, but you have not done it yet,” the court said.  

Salem had challenged an order passed by the special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) court on December 10, 2024 that rejected his petition for premature release.  

In February 2025, advocate Farhana Shah for Abu Salem said that he had already undergone the punishment of 25 years in prison in accordance with the procedure for an extradition treaty between India and Portugal, and hence, he should be granted remission in accordance with the law, and released from prison. 

The petition mentioned the Supreme Court’s July 11, 2022 order, in line with India’s extradition treaty and the sovereign assurance given to Portugal that capped his imprisonment for 25 years.