In September 2017, the TADA court convicted him Gangster Abu Salem was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017. (File Photo)The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea by gangster Abu Salem, who is undergoing life imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, for premature release.A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said it found no infirmity with the April 15, 2026 Bombay High Court order dismissing his prayer.Salem, who was extradited to India from Portugal on November 11, 2005, and arrested on November 24, 2005, had approached the high court after a special court designated under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) (TADA) Act rejected his plea in December 2024. He had contended that he had already served his 25-year prison term as per the extradition treaty between India and Portugal.In September 2017, the TADA court convicted him in the Mumbai serial blasts case and sentenced him to life imprisonment. In 2015, he had been awarded a life term for the murder of Mumbai builder Pradeep Jain, who was killed in 1995.Also Read | 1993 Mumbai blasts: Bombay HC rejects gangster Abu Salem’s early release pleaBefore the Supreme Court, Salem contended that the TADA court decision violated the terms of his extradition from Portugal.Hearing his plea, the Supreme Court had stated in July 2022 that the Centre was obligated to advise the President to exercise his/her powers of remission to release Salem after he had served 25 years in prison, in line with the sovereign assurance given by India to Portugal, from which he was extradited. However, the top court had declined to grant any special privilege to commute or limit the sentence.Under the agreement, Salem contended, the government had, on December 17, 2002, through the then deputy prime minister L K Advani, assured Portugal that the Indian government would exercise its powers to ensure the gangster is “not visited by death penalty or imprisonment for a term beyond 25 years”.