Justice Neela Gokhale of the Bombay High Court on Thursday recused herself from hearing a plea by 1993 Mumbai bomb blast convict Abu Salem, Live Law reported. Salem challenged the decision by jail authorities to move him from Taloja Central Prison.
According to reports, Salem, who has spent over 15 years in Taloja, is being relocated to facilitate the reconstruction of the high-security "Anda Cell." The matter was listed before a division bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Neela Gokhale. However, Justice Gokhale said, "Not before me," and ordered the case to be placed before an appropriate court.
Salem's plea, filed by advocate Taraq Sayyad, argues that relocating him to another prison in Maharashtra is risky due to previous attacks on his life in Taloja. Instead, he seeks to be moved to another barrack within Taloja Jail.
The petition also states that transferring Salem to another jail would complicate his travel to Delhi, where he has pending cases. A sessions court had previously rejected his plea against the transfer.