Today, quantum of punishment has been pronounced by special TADA Court of convicts of second cycle of trial in Mumbai serial blast case 1993, the aforesaid blast spawned havoc with killings 257 and left over 713 injured.
June this year, special TADA court found Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Mohammed Tahir Merchant, Karimullah Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui and Feroze Abdul Rashid Khan guilty in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. Court had already sentenced Mustafa Dossa to death, further, within fortnight of aforesaid sentence by court, he ended his life.
Special TADA Court sentenced Taher Merchant and Feroze Khan to death, further, Abu Salem and Karimullah Khan were sentenced to life imprisonment. Another convict, Riyaz Siddiqui, was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Salem hasn’t been sentenced death as he was extradited from Portugal on a treaty which was signed between then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Portugese President Anibal Cavaco Silva, whereby Salem was extradited on a condition that he wouldn’t be sentenced to death and imprisonmemt more than 25 years.
Portugal has abolished death penalty and maximum punishment for which an accused could be liable is 25 years, Section 34C of The Extradition Act, 1962 provides that fugitive criminal would be punished according to the laws of country where the criminal has been extradited. Therefore, although Abu Salem has been sentenced to life, the government can exercise its powers to commute the sentence to 25 years in jail.
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