The US Supreme Court has given its approval for the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a convicted accomplice in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, to India, rejecting his petition for review.
This marks a significant development in India's efforts to bring the Canadian national of Pakistani descent to justice for his role in the devastating attacks.
Rana, aged 64, has faced a long legal battle against extradition. His petition, filed on November 13, was rejected by the apex court of the United States on January 21, just a day after Donald Trump’s inauguration as the President.
The court’s one-line order, “Petition DENIED,” effectively sealed his fate.
India has been seeking the extradition of Rana in connection with his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that resulted in the deaths of 166 people, including six Americans.
Rana’s alleged role in the attacks was brought to light in a case linked to his association with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the masterminds behind the attack.
The US Supreme Court’s decision comes after Rana’s petition for a writ of certiorari was denied. In the petition, he argued that he had already been tried and acquitted in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) federal court on charges related to the 26/11 attacks.
However, the US government opposed this, with Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar emphasising that the charges presented by India differ from those covered in the US case.
Prelogar argued that some of the charges against Rana, such as the use of forged documents in India, were not part of the federal trial, and thus the acquittal did not apply to all of the conduct India seeks to prosecute.
She further highlighted that the jury verdict in the Chicago case was ambiguous regarding some of the specific actions for which India is now seeking his extradition.
Currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, Rana faces significant legal hurdles, having lost in several federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
In 2008, ten Pakistani terrorists carried out a brutal assault on Mumbai, killing 166 people and injuring hundreds more in a siege that lasted over 60 hours.
The attacks targeted iconic locations in the city, including the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel, and Nariman House. Rana’s extradition will now bring him closer to facing charges in India related to the attacks.
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