Abu Salem wants temporary bail to get married

Gangster Abu Salem, convicted last month in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, moved a plea on Monday seeking parole or temporary bail for marriage.

Gangster Abu Salem, convicted last month in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, moved a plea on Monday seeking parole or temporary bail for marriage.

A file photo of gangster Abu Salem who has been convicted by a special TADA court in 1993 Mumbai blasts case, in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)

Two years before, a woman had moved a plea before the TADA court seeking its permission to get married to the gangster .

The woman had in June 2015 approached the court to allow her to marry Salem after it was reported that Salem had married her ‘over the phone’ during a train journey when he was being taken to Lucknow for a court hearing under police escort.

The application has been since pending before the TADA court hearing the case of 1993 Mumbai blasts case where Salem was recently convicted.

Read: 1993 Mumbai serial blasts: Why Abu Salem is likely to escape capital punishment

On Monday, Salem moved an application through his lawyer Farhana Shah that he may be allowed to attend the officer of the registrar to marry the woman. Salem, in his application, attached judgements of the apex court citing examples in which the accused were allowed to marry. The court has asked CBI to file a reply on the plea.

“We have given the court two citations -- one from the Bombay High Court and another from the Delhi High Court -- stating that a person can be granted bail or parole for marriage,” said Shah.

The TADA court in Mumbai had convicted Salem and five others in June for their role in the serial bomb blasts of March 12, 1993 in which 257 people were killed.

The CBI had earlier this month sought life imprisonment for Salem, convicted under stringent sections of the now-repealed TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act in the bomb blast case.

(With PTI inputs)