Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has filed a plea with the US Supreme Court to block his extradition to India. This marks his final legal attempt after losing battles in lower and federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which denied his request for a stay on September 23.
India has sought Tahawwur Rana’s extradition for his alleged role in aiding the 26/11 attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans. Rana, known for his association with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, is accused of assisting the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group, which carried out the attacks.
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Rana’s Supreme Court plea argues he was acquitted in a federal court in Chicago on charges related to the same incident and claims his extradition would violate the principle of double jeopardy. His petition also warns of a potential death sentence if tried and convicted in India.
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What Rana argued
In his “petitions for a writ of certiorari to review the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit” in this case, Rana makes the same argument that he was tried and acquitted in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) on charges relating to the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai.
“India now seeks to extradite him for trial on charges based on the identical conduct at issue in the Chicago case,” it says.
The petition says that if the “elements” standard applies, he very likely will be sent to India to be put on trial a second time for the same conduct, with conviction and a death sentence ominously on the horizon for him.
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“In addition, resolution of this issue will have considerable and increasing impact, as the growing globalisation of criminal law enforcement and international cooperation, which in turn has led to a dramatic rise in extraditions, will affect more and more individuals and nations going forward,” it said.
The Mumbai attacks, carried out by 10 Pakistani terrorists, involved a 60-hour siege on iconic locations, leaving India’s financial capital scarred.
(Inputs from PTI)
