India has approached Portugal’s Supreme Court of Justice to challenge the verdict of the high court of Lisbon terminating the extradition of 1993 Mumbai serial blast accused Abu Salem.
India has sought a stay on the order, sources said. The Lisbon high court had said that in view of the new/additional charges against Salem, which entail the death penalty, authorisation for his extradition has been terminated as it violated the “Rule of Speciality”. The extradition of Salem came after an assurance by the Indian government that he would not be given the death penalty.
“The CBI, in its appeal in the SC of Portugal, has categorically said ‘there is no violation of the Rule of Speciality’ as available in the laws of the US, UK and Portugal and India Extradition Act,” sources said, adding, “The additional charges framed against Salem are made out from the same facts considered for his extradition and provide lesser sentences as compared to the sentence provided for the offences for which his extradition was granted.