Overview
- Justices Ajay Gadkari and Shyam Chandak said they were not inclined to allow the visit after Salem declined to pay the ₹17.60 lakh escort cost for a proposed four-day parole.
- Salem’s lawyer, Farhana Shah, called the fee exorbitant and offered ₹1 lakh, drawing the court’s response that there was “no question of bargaining.”
- The bench asked counsel to withdraw the petition or face dismissal and adjourned the case to Thursday, February 5, for further instructions.
- The state indicated it could permit four days of parole on humanitarian grounds only with full police escort at the prisoner’s expense, citing security concerns in Azamgarh.
- Salem, extradited from Portugal and serving sentences in the 1993 Mumbai blasts and a separate murder case, had an emergency parole request rejected by jail authorities in November.