Abu Salem in HC to challenge separation of trial

Mumbai, July 31 (UNI) Extradited gangster Abu Salem, an accused in the 1993 serial bomb blast case, today moved Bombay High Court, challenging the separation of his trial along with additional charges framed by Designated Tada Court at Mumbai.

The petition moved by Salem's lawyer Ashok Sarogi was listed today before a division bench comprising Justices D G Deshpande and S A Bobde but could not come up for hearing and is expected to come up tomorrow.

Salem, in his petition, has challenged the separation of his trial, from the other 135 accused, on the grounds that it may lead to prejudicing the minds of the court. Also, the separation is in violation of the extradition agreements made between India and Portugal when Salem was deported.

According to the petitioner, he was brought to India to face the ongoing trial and not a separate trial.

Besides this, Salem had also pointed out certain alleged violations of the extradition proceedings and prayed to the court to set aside the order passed by the Tada Court.

It may be recalled that the Tada Judge P D Kode, trying the serial bomb blast case that rocked the metropolis on March 12, 1993, had earlier separated the trial of the don and his associate Riyaz Siddique on a plea moved by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The CBI claimed that the joint trial of Salem and his associate would only delay the order process of the 135 accused including cine star Sanjay Dutt as their trial proceedings had already concluded and due for judgement on August 10.

The Tada court is also about to declare the date of commencement of the separate trial of Salem and Siddique on August 1.

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