26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana extradited
26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana extradited
In a new major development the US Supreme Court on Saturday cleared the path for the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistani-Canadian national, to India. This is indeed a major development in the prosecution of individuals involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Currently Rana is held in Los Angeles, awaiting his extradition.
India has sought for his prosecution for his alleged role in the attacks. Reportedly on November 13, Rana had filed a “petition for a writ of certiorari” before the US Supreme Court.
“Petition DENIED,” the Supreme Court has said. Certiorari essentially is a process that seeks to review the decision of a lower court.
Notedly, Rana, had challenged his extradition through various legal avenues, but the Supreme Court his denied his last appeal.
The court’s decision comes after he lost earlier battles in multiple federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals.
The 63-year-old was a childhood friend of David Headley, a US citizen who was born to an American mother and a Pakistani father, and was arrested in October 2009 by US authorities and sentenced to 35 years in prison for his involvement in the Mumbai attacks.
Rana was arrested by US police soon after Headley’s arrest at Chicago’s O’Hare airport in October 2009. He was convicted in Chicago in 2011 of providing material support to the LeT for the India attack and for supporting the never-carried-out plot to attack a Danish newspaper named Jyllands-Posten, which printed cartoons of the Prophet in 2005.
However, jurors in the US cleared Rana of a more serious charge of providing support for the attacks in Mumbai.
In 2011, the NIA filed a chargesheet against nine people, including Rana, for planning and executing the attack. In 2014, a Sessions Court in Delhi issued fresh non-bailable warrants against the men, whom the NIA had listed as absconders.
Last year the Indian government had started making preparations for him to be handed over by the United States, with officials — including those from Central investigative agencies and legal departments of both countries — holding a meeting in this regard at the US Embassy in Delhi late last year.
In the meeting, which lasted around three hours, Rana’s extradition was a key point of discussion. The talks focused on what preparations and logistics need to be in place by the Indian government to facilitate the extradition, as well as Rana’s jail arrangements once he arrives.
The meeting followed the denial of Rana’s request on September 23 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit for rehearing of his extradition case. Just the previous month, on August 15, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California had affirmed the District Court’s denial of Rana’s habeas corpus petition. It said India provided sufficient competent evidence to support the magistrate judge’s finding of probable cause that Rana committed the charged crimes.
A former doctor in the Pakistan Army, Rana moved to Canada in the 1990s, where he became a naturalised citizen. He later relocated to the United States, where he opened an immigration consultancy, First World Immigration Services, in Chicago.
Rana’s involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks stems from his assistance to Headley, who was acting on behalf of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Headley, who conducted reconnaissance on prominent sites in Mumbai, such as the Taj Mahal Hotel and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, was able to operate under the guise of being an employee of Rana’s immigration consultancy.
News Edit KV Raman
