Salem challenges Court order to separate his trial

His petition said that according to the extradition agreement, he was to stand the ongoing trial and not a fresh one.

Extradited gangster Abu Salem on Monday moved the Bombay High Court against special TADA court's order to separate his trial from the rest of 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts trial.

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Salem stated in his application that separating his trial in the bomb blasts case would violate the agreement between Portugal and Indian government under which he was extradited last year.

His petition said that according to the extradition agreement, he was to stand the ongoing trial and not a fresh one. Salem is one of the 123 accused in 1993 bomb blasts case.

Earlier, last month, CBI prayed to the special TADA judge Pramod Kode that trial of Salem and his associate Riyaz Siddiqi (who was also arrested recently) be separated from that of the other accused, otherwise the entire trial would be delayed.

The TADA judge accepted the CBI plea and ordered separation of trial on June 13. In the original trial, Kode will begin to deliver the judgement from August 10.

Salem, in his petition in High Court today, has also alleged some other violations of the extradition agreement.

One of his contentions is that as per the agreement, he was to be sent back to India for standing trials, not for interrogation and fresh probe.

The petition is expected to come up for hearing tomorrow before the division bench of Justices DG Deshpande and SA Bobde.