Extradited gangster Abu Salem on Thursday filed an application before the special TADA court opposing the deposition of one of the prosecution witnesses on the grounds that the latter has no relevance to the 1993 serial bomb blasts case.
The TADA court is currently hearing the deposition of witnesses in the Abu Salem and Riyaz Siddiqui trial. The third witness deposed before the court on Thursday.
According to the application filed by Salem, the witness who was the public relations officer of the passport office in Lucknow has no relevance in the present trial of the serial blasts.
According to the statement of this witness, Salem had travelled abroad on a fake passport issued to him in Lucknow.
However, Salem in his application has stated that the passport application in Lucknow was made on June 15, 1993, much after the serial blasts that took place in March 1993.
The application further stated that the date of issuance of this passport is beyond the period of alleged conspiracy of the blasts.
Hence, the deposition of this witness does not hold any relevance to this trial, the application contends.
{{/usCountry}}Hence, the deposition of this witness does not hold any relevance to this trial, the application contends.
{{/usCountry}}Special TADA judge PD Kode directed the prosecution to file their reply on this application on April 29.
Meanwhile, the third witness in the trial deposed before the court today. The witness was the immigration officer who was on duty when Salem was extradited from Portugal.
The witness said that on November 11, 2005 he had checked Salem's documents and his emergency exit and cleared him from the immigration counter.