Stating that the Indian government is bound to “respect” the extradition orders of foreign courts as per the norms of international law, the Supreme Court on Friday admitted alleged mafia don Abu Salem’s petition for quashing the serious Tada charges in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case and stayed the trial against him in two FIRs registered in this connection.
The main ground for Salem challenging the framing of charges under Tada against him was that the Court of Appeal in Lisbon has recently terminated the authorisation given to the Portugal government to extradite him to India as prosecution against him was initiated for crimes not mentioned in the list of cases submitted by the Indian government to the extradition court.
The other important legal ground raised by him was that the Indian government had given a commitment to the extradition court before his deportation in 2005 that he would not be tried for an offence that carries the death penalty. But Tada does, in both cases.
While admitting the petition, a bench of Justices P. Sathasivam and J. Chela-meswar issued notices to the Centre, CBI, and separately to the MEA, stating that his petition has raised important questions related to extradition and international law. The top court also sought the presence of Attorney-General G.E. Vahanvati in the case. The CBI and the government were asked to submit their replies within four weeks.