3 min readMumbaiUpdated: Feb 5, 2026 06:25 PM IST
The Bombay High Court on Thursday rejected a plea by gangster Abu Salem, who was convicted in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, seeking emergency parole citing his elder brother’s death. This came after his lawyer argued that he was unable to pay the high security escort charges stipulated by state prison authorities to accompany him.
Salem, who was arrested on November 24, 2005, after he was extradited from Portugal in 2005 and was convicted in the 1993 blasts case in September 2017, is currently lodged at Nashik Central Prison. He was also convicted in Portugal for travelling on a fake passport.
A division bench of Justices Ajey S Gadkari and Shyam C Chandak noted that Salem could be released on parole leave with the condition that he has to “bear the escort charges” as “competent authorities had given him permission to go on parole with high security police escort”. The court also found “no reason to interfere” with the impugned decisions of competent authorities and “no merit” in the plea and dismissed the same.
Earlier, on Tuesday (February 3), advocate Farhana Shah said that Salem was unable to pay escort charges for a four-day parole (as suggested by the court) beyond Rs 1 lakh, while estimated charges were of nearly 17.76 lakh.
The high court had responded that he “cannot bargain” on payment of escort charges. Salem had sought 14-day emergency parole.
The prison authorities had passed a decision in December 2025 that Salem could at most be released on a two-day parole with police escort (charges to be paid by him) to visit Saraimir village in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district, a “communally sensitive” area, to meet his family following the death of his elder brother, Abu Hakim Ansari, in November last year.
On Thursday, Shah informed the bench that Salem would not withdraw the plea and sought order on merits of the matter. She argued that Salem was “not in a position” to pay the “very high” escort charges “due to his financial considerations and so many years in custody”.
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Shah also argued that there was no restriction on him to not avail parole being an extradited accused. The lawyer said Salem was “not an international gangster”, was sent earlier to attend other cases, and had never misused any condition laid down by the high court. She also claimed that Salem was not an original conspirator in the blast case
On the other hand, Additional Public Prosecutor Ashish Satpute for the state government submitted that there was no merit in the plea and purpose of attending his brother’s final rites had already passed. Satpute justified the decision by the state authorities, cited the extradition treaty with Portugal, and said that Salem had committed serious offences and there was an apprehension that he would abscond if granted 14-day parole.
Advocate Amit Munde for the prosecuting agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, also opposed Salem’s plea.
After perusing submissions, the court said that it would permit Salem to be released on parole only on a condition of payment of escort charges.
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