Extradition terminated, Abu Salem does not want to go to court

Armed with the Portuguese high court order terminating his extradition, gangster Abu Salem on Thursday pleaded for a direction by the TADA court to jail authorities not to produce him in any court till the conclusion of the proceedings in Lisbon.

He also argued that the trial against him in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case cannot go on after the Portuguese court order.

His lawyer Sabha Qureshi submitted the order passed by the Portuguese high court which terminated his extradition, saying there was breach of agreement by India for slapping offences which attract death penalty. Capital punishment has been abolished in Portugal.

While submitting the copy of the order, Qureshi insisted that the superintendent of Taloja jail be directed not to produce Salem in any court till conclusion of proceedings in Lisbon.

TADA court judge G A Sanap asked the CBI to file its response to the gangster's application on October 11.

The court, however, dismissed an application filed by Salem in which he had claimed there was a threat to his life from Central Bureau of Investigation and Maharashtra police, saying his apprehension was "ill-founded".

"Unless some material is produced that CBI or police has made any attempt or made a plan, the application cannot be accepted," it remarked while disposing of the application.