CBI seeks time to file reply to Salem's application

MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI) today asked the court here for time to file reply to the application of extradited gangster Abu Salem, seeking closure of the trial against him in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.

Salem's plea came in the wake of Portugal Supreme Court upholding a lower court's ruling that extradition treaty with India had been violated in his case.

Salem's application here is likely to be heard on Friday. The Portugal court had held that rules were violated in Salem's extradition, as charges attracting death penalty were pressed against him after he was taken to India.

Salem, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, was extradited to India along with Monica Bedi on November 11, 2005, after a marathon legal process in Portugal lasting three years.