Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition filed by gangster Abu Salem seeking remission of his sentence and an early release from prison.
Salem, who is serving a life sentence following his conviction in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, had approached the High Court after a special court rejected his plea in December 2024. He had sought a reduction of his jail term and directions to authorities to determine a tentative date for his release.
A bench of Justices Ajey Gadkari and Kamal Khata dismissed Salem’s petition. Detailed order copy is awaited.
Salem’s counsel, Advocate Farhana Shah, had argued that he had already completed 25 years in custody in terms of the extradition agreement between India and Portugal and was therefore entitled to remission.
Remission is a concession granted to prisoners by way of sentence reduction, typically based on factors such as good conduct during incarceration.
Salem was extradited from Portugal to India on November 11, 2005, and formally arrested on November 24 the same year. Since then, he has faced trial in multiple cases. He is currently lodged in Nashik Central Prison, having been shifted from Taloja Central Prison last year.
Apart from the blasts case, Salem was also convicted in 2015 for the murder of Mumbai-based builder Pradeep Jain and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2017, he was convicted in the 1993 blasts case.
The Ministry of Home Affairs had opposed Salem’s plea terming it as baseless. The Centre argued that the sovereign assurance given to Portugal — that Salem would not be imprisoned for more than 25 years — would become relevant only after he completes that period, which it said would fall on November 10, 2030.
According to an affidavit filed by the Ministry in May 2025, Salem had completed 19 years, five months and 21 days in custody as of March 31, 2025. It also accused him of attempting to merge separate periods of incarceration arising from different convictions to claim premature eligibility for release.
In July 2025, the High Court had observed that Salem had not yet completed 25 years of imprisonment, noting that his custody commenced in October 2005.
Salem later approached the Supreme Court of India, which in February 2026 allowed him to withdraw his plea and granted him liberty to seek an expedited hearing before the High Court.
Following final arguments on March 26, the High Court reserved its order, which was delivered on Wednesday, dismissing his plea.
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