TADA court rejects Abu Salem’s plea for tentative release date

A TADA court denied gangster Abu Salem's plea for his release date, citing a commitment to limit his incarceration to 25 years as per government advice.

A special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court on Tuesday rejected the plea filed by jailed gangster Abu Salem Abdul Qayyum Ansari, a convict in the March 1993 Mumbai serial bombings case, seeking to know the tentative date of his release.

Abu Salem had filed the petition in October to the superintendent of Nashik Central Prison.

Salem had filed the petition in October to the superintendent of Nashik Central Prison, where he is lodged, requesting details of his release date considering his total and actual periods of incarceration and available remission.

This was failed after Nashik prison jail authorities failed to reply to a mail he sent on July 20. They subsequently filed a reply, in the previous hearings, that the government is bound to release Salem after 25 years based on national commitment, on the advice of India’s president.

The jail authorities, in their response to Salem, observed that the Indian government would abide by the period of 25 years, adding, “Such a plea cannot be raised as an argument before the period elapses.”

Salem had escaped to Portugal, and was extradited to India in 2005 after negotiations about his imprisonment were drawn out between the Portuguese and Indian governments.

The Supreme Court had also observed in 2022 that the Indian government would honour the commitment made to the Portuguese government and not jail him for more than 25 years.