SC judge recuses from hearing Salem's plea

A Supreme Court judge on Thursday recused herself from hearing a plea of extradited gangster Abu Salem who challenged his conviction and the seven-year jail term for possessing fake passport.

A bench presided by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai said she would not take up the case as she had earlier heard the Bombay blast case in which Salem was also an accused.
The case would now be listed before another bench.

Salem, 46, was convicted and awarded seven-year rigorous imprisonment by a special CBI court in Hyderabad in a fake passport case in 2013. He was held guilty under different sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for obtaining a passport under a fictitious name and address. The apex court had in August last ruled that a decision by Portugal’s Constitutional court terminating extradition of Salem to India was not binding here and gave a go-head for his trial in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

Salem had procured the fake passport under the fictitious identity of Ramil Kamil Malik by submitting forged documents to the Hyderabad Regional Passport Office, in connivance with some government officials and private persons in 2001.

Salem had obtained three passports — one for his first wife Sameera Zumani, another for his companion and actor Monica Bedi and a third for himself.