New Delhi:
The Supreme Court has ruled that the extradition of underworld don Abu Salem to India is valid. Salem is being tried for his alleged role in serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993 in which 257 people were killed and another 713 injured.
Salem, 45, was sent by Portugal to Mumbai in November 2005 along with his then companion, actor Monica Bedi. He is imprisoned at the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai.
A court in Portugal had ruled that his extradition to India was terminated because of "violation" of deportation rules. Salem had argued that India had reneged on its promise that he would not be tried for any crime that could result in the death penalty.
That has resulted in CBI telling the Supreme Court in Delhi that it is ready to drop charges under the anti-terror TADA law.
The trial against Salem, which had been suspended till the Supreme Court's verdict, can now continue in a court in Mumbai.