Mumbai serial blasts: Abu Salem almost fell when he was awarded life sentence
As soon as the Judge G A Sanap awarded life sentence to Salem, his face turned pale and he almost fell on the bench.
In Short
- The special TADA court pronounced the quantum of sentence to the five convicts in Mumbai serial blasts case.
- Abu Salem was awarded life sentence.
- He was expecting the maximum punishment could be 13 years.
The special TADA court today pronounced the quantum of sentence to the five convicts in the second part of 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. Abu Salem, who was one of the key conspirators, was among the five convicts.
Abu Salem, who has been lodged in the Taloja prison, was brought to the TADA court at 11 am. As per his routine, he went and sat in one corner of the place allotted for accused persons. Dressed in a blue half shirt, Salem didn't talk any of the other convicts, but kept speaking to his lawyers in the court.
The TADA court Judge G A Sanap presided on the chair at around 12:40 pm, and till then, Salem had been chatting and discussing with his lawyers in the court room. At every hearing during the trial, some or the other amongst seven accused would complain of something or file an application. All the six accused would be very vocal and would complain of things like they weren't allowed to speak to their family members or some other things like food or clothing. The judge would hear to every accused complains or request and would then ask other remaining accused if they had any grievances. Salem would just nod his head and convey that he had no complaints or requests to be made to the court.
On Thursday, Salem behaved in a similar manner and looked relaxed and comfortable despite being convicted in the case.
As soon as the Judge G A Sanap awarded life sentence to Salem, his face turned pale and he almost fell on the bench in the accused's sitting area. Since then, he looked worried and it felt like something unexpected had happened. It could be, because Salem always thought that he would get a maximum punishment of thirteen more years behind bars as he had already served 12 years since he was extradited. This was due to the treaty signed by India and Portugal government from where he was extradited in 2005. The treaty said that Salem couldn't be awarded capital punishment extending twenty five years behind bars.
The sentence came as a shock to Salem who expected that the maximum punishment that could be awarded to him would be 13 years.
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