JUDGMENT

P. Sathasivam, CJI.

1. These appeals, at the instance of the appellant - Abu Salem Abdul Qayyum Ansari, have been filed under Section 19 of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (in short 'the TADA') challenging the final judgment and order dated 08.11.2011 passed by the Designated Court under TADA for the Bombay Bomb Blast Case, Greater Bombay in TADA Special Case No. 1-B of 1993 and Special Case No. 1 of 2006 whereby the Designated Judge dismissed both the applications filed by the appellant in view of the order dated 14.09.2011 passed by the Court of Appeals of Lisbon, Portugal terminating the extradition order dated 28.03.2003 for stay of all further proceedings.

2. Pending disposal of the above appeals, the respondent- CBI filed Criminal Misc. Petitions being Nos. 3301-3302 of 2013 praying for clarification/modification of the judgment and order dated 10.09.2010 in Abu Salem Abdul Qayoom Ansari v. State of Maharashtra and Another [JT 2011 (10) SC 202 : 2011 (11) SCC 214]. In the same applications, the CBI has also prayed for permission to withdraw certain charges leveled against the appellant-Abu Salem. They also prayed for vacation of the stay order dated 17.02.2012 and to allow the trial to continue.

3. In view of the applications filed by the CBI for clarification/modification of the earlier order dated 10.09.2010, it is useful to highlight the factual aspects of the case to decide the present applications.

4. Brief facts

(i) On 12.03.1993, a series of 12 bomb blasts took place one after the other in the city of Bombay which resulted in the death of 257 persons, injuries to 713 others and properties worth about Rs.27 crore were destroyed. Thereafter, 27 criminal cases were registered in relation to the said incident at various police stations in Bombay City, District Thane and District Raigarh. Upon completion of the investigation, a single chargesheet was filed against 189 accused persons including 44 absconding accused (AA) persons on 04.11.1993.

(ii) During the course of investigation, large number of arms, ammunitions and explosives were recovered from the possession of accused persons. Since the appellant was an absconder, he was shown as an absconding accused (A-139) in the charge sheet and a proclamation was issued against the appellant on 15.09.1993. A Red Corner Notice bearing No. A-103/3-1995 was also issued through Interpol for the arrest of the appellant herein.

(iii) The Designated Court framed a common charge of criminal conspiracy punishable under Section 3(3) of TADA as well as various charges under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (in short 'the IPC'), the Arms Act, 1959, the Explosives Act, 1884, the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984 were also framed.

(iv) The specific role attributed to Abu Salem in the said chargesheet was that he was entrusted with the task of transporting illegally smuggled arms and ammunitions, their storage and distribution to other conspirators. Some of the arms and explosives which were smuggled into India on 09.02.1993 were transported to Village Sansrod, District Bharuch. In the second week of January, 1993, Abu Salem brought AK-56 rifles, ammunitions and hand grenades from village Sansrod to Bombay and distributed them among various co-accused.

(v) At the time of trial, the Designated Court directed that evidence to be adduced against the absconding accused persons for the purpose of Section 299 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.

(vi) The appellant herein entered the territorial jurisdiction of Portugal in assumed name of Arsalan Mohsin Ali on a Pakistani Passport. On 18.09.2002, Abu Salem was detained by the Portuguese Police at Lisbon on the strength of the said Red Corner Notice.

(vii) In December 2002, Government of India submitted a request for the extradition of Abu Salem in 9 criminal cases (3 cases of CBI, 2 cases of Mumbai Police and 4 cases of Delhi Police). The request was made relying