NEW DELHI: The Union Home Secretary in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court has said that the government of India is bound by 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.
“It is respectfully submitted that the government of India is bound by the assurance dated December 17, 2002. The period of 25 years which is mentioned in the assurance will be abided by the Union of India as the appropriate time subject to the remedies which may be available," the affidavit reads.
"The question of the Union of India honouring its assurance will arise only when the period of 25 years is going to expire. Before the said date, the appellant-convict cannot raise any arguments based on the said assurance. Therefore, the contention of the petitioner about non-compliance of assurance is premature and based on hypothetical surmises and can never be raised in present proceedings,” the affidavit by Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla before the top court added.
It has also been submitted that the judiciary is independent in deciding all cases including criminal cases in accordance with the applicable laws without in any way being bound by any position taken by the executive.
The Supreme Court on April 12 had granted the last opportunity to the Home Secretary to file his affidavit on the issue.
On the last date of 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 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.
“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.
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 blasts case, is not binding on Indian courts.
Abu Salem's contention is that his imprisonment cannot exceed 25 years in terms of the assurance given by the Union of India.
The next date of hearing is on April 21.