Bhopal: A local court on Wednesday dismissed
the petition of extradited underworld don Abu Salem seeking
pardoning of his sentence in the 2001 fake passport case.
Salem`s plea was dismissed by the Special Additional
Session Judge, Shriram Sharma, on the ground that the sentence
awarded by the lower court is sufficient as per the law.
The court also dismissed a petition filed by the state
government seeking enhancement of Salem`s sentence by
observing local police and the municipal corporation have not
discharged their duties properly in the case and therefore the
sentence is adequate.
A CJM court on November 16 last had convicted Salem on
two counts in a 2001 fake passport case.
The extradited gangster was convicted under section 471
(using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of
the IPC and section 12 (1)(b) (suppression of information) of
the Indian Passport Act. He had been, however, acquitted of
charge under IPC section 468 (forgery).
The Chief Judicial Magistrate on November 19 last awarded
two years of rigorous imprisonment to Salem who was extradited
from Portugal in 2005.
PTI
