NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the last opportunity to the Home Secretary to file his affidavit on the issue of whether India will honour the commitment by its then Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani to Portugal in 2002 on limiting gangster Abu Salem's jail term to 25 years. He needs to file the affidavit by April 18.
“We are not satisfied with the reply as the question as to whether the assurance given by the then Deputy Prime Minister on behalf of the government of India is to be abided or not and the government will have to take a stand, keeping in mind their international commitment made and the ramifications of the same, if the same is not abided. We, therefore, call upon the Home Secretary to file an affidavit in this case,” the court had said in the last order.
During the course of the hearing, the Solicitor General appearing for the central government said that Abu Salem is a convict in the Mumbai serial blasts case and he cannot dictate terms either to the court or to the government. This came on the submission made by Abu Salem’s lawyer Rishi Malhotra who said that the Home Secretary should file the affidavit by tomorrow.
The top court earlier during the day had expressed anguish over the delay in filing the affidavit and said that if the Home Secretary is so busy then they can call him to the court.
“Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submits that there was some communication gap on their part and the affidavit of the Union home secretary shall be filed on or before April 18, 2022 as a last opportunity,” the bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice MM Sundresh said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had already in an affidavit said an Indian court is not bound by the assurance given by the then Deputy Prime Minister in 2002.
The apex court has said that it is not satisfied by the probe agency’s affidavit that the assurance given by India to Portugal on the maximum sentence during the extradition of Salem, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blast case, is not binding on Indian courts.
Abu Salem's contention is that his imprisonment cannot exceed 25 years due to the assurance given by the Indian government.
"...we call upon the prosecuting agencies/Union of India (as the assurance was given by the Union of India) to take a stand on the issue and file a categorical affidavit in this regard,” the court had observed in its order dated February 2.
The next date of hearing is on April 21.