By IANS
New Delhi : The Supreme Court Monday refused to halt the trial of extradited gangster Abu Salem on charges of getting a Mumbai businessman murdered by hired killers in 1995.
Ordering continuation of Salem’s prosecution, a bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, however restrained the Mumbai trial court from pronouncing its final verdict after conclusion of the trial.
The bench, which also had Justices Tarun Chatterjee and R.V Raveendran, issued these directions while admitting a petition by the gangster challenging his trial in the killing of Mumbai businessman Pradeep Jain and critically injuring his brother Sunil Jain.
Salem moved the court contending that as per a “solemn sovereign assurance” given by the Indian government to Portuguese authorities at the time of his extradition in November 2005, he was to be prosecuted here only in those cases for which his extradition had been sought.
The mobster contended that the 1995 killing of Jain was not one of the cases for which India had sought his extradition.
Despite that a Mumbai court had put him on trial in the case and framed charges against him in April 2007.
Salem contended that his trial in the case did not merely violate the government’s assurance to the Portuguese authorities but also went against section 21 of the country’s Extradition Act, which prohibits his trial on charges other than on which he had been extradited.
As per the First Information Report lodged after the killing of Jain, two unknown assailants had carried out the killing at the instance of Abu Salem. The mobster had fled the country after plotting the 1993 Mumbai serial terror bombings.