NEW DELHI: India's efforts to get underworld don Abu Salem extradited from Portugal got a shot in the arm as the Constitutional Court of Portugal has turned down his appeal.

CBI sources said the Constitutional Court rejected his appeal on July 18, clearing virtually all legal hurdles in his extradition. Earlier, the Supreme Court of Portugal had also rejected a similar appeal of the underworld don.

However, his extradition may be delayed for some more time, as an additional request for his extradition made in the case of the Madhya Pradesh police is pending consideration in the High Court of Lisbon.

Abu Salem, prime accused in the 1993 Bombay serial blasts case, was the subject of a Red Corner notice issued in 1995.

The Indian government had submitted a formal request for his extradition to the Government of Portugal in three cases of CBI, four cases of Delhi Police and two cases of Mumbai Police.

In the case of Monica Bedi, his accomplice and a former Bollywood starlet who was also arrested along with him in 2002 in Lisbon, extradition was sought in a passport forgery case of Hyderabad.

The High Court of Lisbon had earlier granted Abu Salem's extradition in July last year only for the charges not punishable with death or life imprisonment. He filed an appeal.

The Supreme Court of Portugal rejecting it, accepted the plea of the CBI and authorised his extradition for all the crimes included in the Indian request.

It was another appeal from Abu Salem before the Constitutional Court that was rejected on Monday, according to the CBI spokesperson here.

Audio tape row

Abu Salem's name figured in the recent audio tape controversy allegedly involving Bollywood celebrities Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai.

On tape Salman Khan is allegedly heard boasting of his links with the underworld and threatening Aishwarya Rai with dire consequences if she did not participate in a show, organised by Abu Salem.

The tapes were reportedly recorded in 2001 and the transcript was carried last week by a Mumbai-based English newspaper but a question mark still hangs over their authenticity.

At the time of his detention on September 18, 2002 in Lisbon, Abu Salem was found in possession of fake travel documents. He was holding a Pakistani passport in the name of Arsalan Mohsin Ali but his finger prints available with CBI fixed his identity.

He was prosecuted for the offence of forged documents and convicted by a Sessions Court in Lisbon to undergo a prison term of four and a half years on November 12, 2003 and he continues to be in detention.

Monica Bedi was found to be in possession of a passport issued by the Regional Passport Office, Hyderabad, in the name of Sana Malik Kamal. She was convicted by the Sessions Court of Lisbon for the offence of use of forged documents in Portugal and was awarded a prison term of two years.

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