1991 Mumbai blasts case: Abu Salem cannot be sentenced to life, says defence lawyer

Mumbai city news: Indian courts have to recognise and uphold the government’s assurance that Abu Salem could not be jailed for more than 25 years, said Salem’s lawyer on Tuesday.

Indian courts have to recognise and uphold the government’s assurance that Abu Salem could not be jailed for more than 25 years, said Salem’s lawyer on Tuesday.

Abu Salem (HT file photo)

The assurance was given by the Indian government to Portugal while extraditing Salem.

Sudeep Pasbola was concluding his arguments for quantum of sentence for Salem in his role in the 1993 blast. Pasbola said that according to the government’s assurance, Salem could not be jailed for more than 25 years. He also sought minimum punishment for Salem stating that his role alleged by the prosecution was based on circumstantial evidence.

Pasbola said that Salem’s role should be considered as par with other convicts who played similar roles in the blast. He compared Salem’s case with Mansoor Ahmed Sayyed Ahmed and Ibrahim alias Baba Musa Chouhan who were sentenced to 10 years in jail each. Ahmed had gone to actor Sanjay Dutt’s house with Abu Salem while Chouhan had supplied weapons to the actor. The lawyer also cited Samir Hingora’s example who was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment for organising a AK-56 gun for Dutt.

Meanwhile, special public prosecutor Deepak Salvi has sought a lifetime imprisonment for Salem. He said that that Salem deserved nothing but death for “transporting a car full of ammunition from Bharuch to Mumbai”.