Salem was extradited from Portugal on November 11, 2005, after a prolonged legal battle.

The Supreme Court dismissed a plea by gangster Abu Salem on Thursday after he sought an early release from custody for having completed 25 years in jail.Salem, who is serving a sentence in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, was extradited from Portugal on November 11, 2005, following a prolonged legal battle.The extradition agreement between India and Portugal stipulated that Salem could not be sentenced to death and that his prison term could not exceed 25 years.A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta upheld Bombay High Court’s April ruling, which had rejected his plea for immediate release, terming it “premature” and “misconceived”.A detailed order is yet to be released.Earlier in Feb, the Supreme Court refused to entertain Salem’s plea, which claimed that he was in “illegal custody” for over 10 months as he had already undergone the 25-year sentence awarded to him in the March 12, 1993, Mumbai serial bomb blasts case.