Mumbai

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed gangster Abu Salem’s plea seeking immediate release on the ground that he had completed 25 years in jail under the terms of his extradition from Portugal.

Salem argued that if remission earned for good behaviour was counted, his 25-year prison term stood completed and he should therefore be released.

A bench of Justices A. S. Gadkari and Kamal Khata said it could not conclude that the 25-year sentence had been completed, adding that it would be premature to decide the issue of remission at this stage.

The court relied on a judgment of the Supreme Court of India, which held that remission must be calculated about a month before a prisoner’s release.

“Therefore, the present petition is dismissed,” the court said.

A detailed copy of the order is yet to be made available.

In the plea filed through advocate Farhana Shah, Salem said that when he was extradited from Portugal in 2005, India had assured Portuguese authorities that he would neither face the death penalty nor remain imprisoned for more than 25 years.

The government opposed the plea, stating that Salem has actually spent only 19 years in prison and that a decision on his premature release remains pending.

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Salem was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case and is serving a life sentence.