US chief justice to hear Tahawwur Rana’s plea against extradition on April 4
The US Supreme Court on January 21 rejected Rana’s plea against extradition to India and his surrender to NIA was approved by the Donald Trump administration.
The court of chief justice of the US Supreme Court will on April 4 hear the plea of 26/11 Mumbai attack co-conspirator Tahawwur Rana, who is seeking an emergency stay on his extradition to India, people familiar with the development said on Wednesday.
This means Rana’s extradition would be delayed by a few more weeks, officials said. The clerk of the SC on Wednesday “distributed” the petition for “conference” on April 4.
Indian officials have, however, exuded confidence that Rana will not get relief from chief justice John G Roberts Jr.
A case being distributed for conference at the US Supreme Court means the clerk’s office has sent the case materials (petition, briefs in opposition/support, etc.) to the justices’ chambers for review and discussion at an upcoming conference, where they decide whether to grant review.
Earlier, Supreme Court judge Justice Elena Kagan had refused to entertain his plea on March 6.
In his first plea filed last month before the SC against the extradition, Rana had claimed that being a Muslim of Pakistani origin, and a former Pakistan army officer, the likelihood of his torture in India is high, adding that he was being sent into a “hornet’s nest”.
Rana cited a recent UK high court decision rejecting arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari’s extradition to India on grounds that he could face “torture” to buttress the application.
The US Supreme Court on January 21 rejected Rana’s plea against extradition to India and his surrender to NIA was approved by the Donald Trump administration during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Washington last month. The state department’s press office told HT in an email response last month that “the secretary of state has signed the surrender warrant authorizing Rana’s surrender to Indian authorities”.
Currently lodged at metropolitan detention centre at Los Angeles, Rana will be handed over to NIA by the FBI on a day agreed upon by both sides.
Between November 26 and 29, 2008, 166 people, including 24 foreign nationals, were killed as a 10-member heavily armed Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group that arrived in Mumbai via the Arabian Sea held the city hostage for close to 60 hours, gunning down civilians at will.
Interrogation of captured Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab and technical investigations revealed the direct role of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI, and three of its military officials were named as key conspirators, along with LeT chief Hafiz Saeed.
David Coleman Headley, a US citizen and childhood friend of Rana, conducted reconnaissance of the targets in Mumbai. He was arrested by the FBI in 2009 and is currently serving a 35-year term after he entered into a plea bargain with authorities there.
