1993 Bombay Blasts Case: Supreme Court Dismisses Abu Salem's Plea For Premature Release From Life Sentence

Bombay Blasts Case: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea filed by gangster Abu Salem seeking premature release from prison in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. In his plea, Salem argued that his prison remission and undertrial custody should be taken into account towards the imprisonment cap of 25 years. Earlier on the previous date, upon hearing the argument, the court had indicated that it will dismiss the plea.

SC Maintains Bombay HC's Ruling

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta found no infirmity in the Bombay High Court's decision of dismissing his plea. Earlier, after hearing arguments from Senior Advocate Rishi Malhotra on behalf of Salem, the top court had reserved its order and allowed the parties to file written arguments and supporting judgments.

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What Salem Argued?

In his plea, Salem, while citing the TADA Court's direction, stated that the period spent as an undertrial had to be set off against the total sentence. He further stated that earned remission for good conduct must be counted towards the imprisonment period as per the law.

Advocate Malhotra asserted that his client had earned nearly three years and two months of remission for good conduct, adding that the other convicts were released on the same ground. While citing the judgment in the Swami Shraddananda v State of Karnataka case during the hearing, he claimed that the time spent in undertrial period and earned permission amounts to approximately 25 years.

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What Bombay HC Said? 

Earlier in April 2025, the Bombay High Court had rejected his plea seeking early release from the prison. The court pointed out that the 25-year period set by the apex court would expire only in November 2030. Abu Salem was convicted in the 1993 Bombay serial blasts case and was extradited from Portugal on November 11, 2005.