Abu Salem Moves Bombay High Court Seeking 14-Days Emergency Parole Leave To Mourn Brother's Death

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday (January 6) ordered the Maharashtra Government to file a reply to a plea filed by underworld gangster Abu Salem–convicted in the 1993 Mumbai Bomb Blast Case–who has sought 14-days 'emergency parole leave' in view of his elder brother's death. 

Salem, who is in prison for more than 2 decades now, has petitioned the division bench of Justice Ajay Gadkari and Justice Shyam Chandak through his counsel Farhana Shah, seeking urgent parole leave. 

When the matter was called out on Tuesday morning, Shah informed the judges that through this instant petition, her client seeks urgent parole leaves as he lost his elder brother Abu Hakim Ansari, who died on November 14, 2025.

At this, Justice Gadkari responded, "But the 14 days (grieving) period is over much before. Why have you filed this petition now?"

Shah explained that the petition got delayed due to the recently concluded winter break. However, the judges asked Mankunwar Deshmukh, the Chief Public Prosecutor to file her reply to the plea and adjourned the matter for further hearing till one week. 

According to Salem's plea, he had applied for an emergency 14 day parole before the jail authorities to attend the last rites and related rituals of his now late bother, on November 15, 2025 itself. However, by an order dated November 20, 2025, his plea was rejected by the jail authorities.

In his plea, Salem has alleged that he being entitled to regular parole leaves, had applied for regular leaves at least three months before his brother's death. He stated that since he was aware that his brother is severely ill, he had applied for regular leaves, however, he alleged that the jail authorities deliberately kept the said plea pending and did not decide the same till November 14, 2025, the day when his brother died. This, he claims has been done purposely by the jail authorities as they did not want him to avail his regular parole leaves. 

Salem has further pointed out that since his arrest in November 2005, he has been in jail and was only granted parole leaves of few days after the death of his mother and also of his step mother. 

The matter will now be heard next week.