The Bombay High Court told gangster Abu Salem that he cannot bargain over the ₹17 lakh police escort charges if he wants parole to visit Azamgarh after his brother’s death. The court said either he pays or withdraws his plea.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday indicated its reluctance to grant parole to jailed gangster Abu Salem, who is serving a sentence in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, after his lawyer expressed inability to pay the ₹17 lakh police escort charges demanded by authorities.
A Division Bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Shyam Chandak observed that the convict “cannot bargain” over the escort cost, which is a necessary condition if he wishes to avail parole for visiting his native village in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, to mourn his brother’s death.
Salem had filed a parole plea in December 2025, seeking a 14-day release to attend post-death rituals of his elder brother Abu Hakim Ansari, who died in November 2025. His earlier application for emergency parole was rejected by the Nashik Road Central Jail authorities on November 20, 2025.
In his petition, Salem stated that the delay in approaching the High Court was due to the intervening Christmas court vacation.
On an earlier date, the Bench had suggested that Salem could be granted parole if he paid for a police escort out of his own pocket. However, during Tuesday’s hearing, Advocate Farhana Shah, appearing for Salem, submitted that the ₹17 lakh escort cost was “exorbitant” and claimed her client is in a poor financial condition.
She told the court that Salem, in jail since November 2005, could not afford more than ₹1 lakh for the escort.
Rejecting this submission, the court remarked:
“He cannot bargain. If he wants to go to his native place, he will have to pay the mandatory charges.”
The Bench then asked whether the petitioner wished to withdraw the parole plea, or else it would be dismissed. On Shah’s request for time to take instructions from Salem, the court posted the matter for hearing on Thursday.
Abu Salem was extradited from Portugal in November 2005 and has been serving his sentence since then. In addition to the 1993 blasts conviction, he was also sentenced to life imprisonment in a separate case for the 1995 murder of Mumbai builder Pradeep Jain.
His earlier parole requests were granted only on two occasions—following the deaths of his mother and stepmother.
