US Supreme Court Rejects Tahawwur Rana’s Extradition Stay Request

NEW YORK:
The US Supreme Court has rejected a plea by 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana, seeking a stay on his extradition to India to face trial

Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, had filed an “Emergency Application For Stay” with the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the US and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit.

He argued in his plea that his extradition to India violated the US law and the United Nations Convention Against Torture “because there are substantial grounds for believing that, if extradited to India, petitioner will be in danger of being subjected to torture.”

“The likelihood of torture in this case is even higher though as petitioner faces acute risk as a Muslim of Pakistani origin charged in the Mumbai attacks,” the application said.

The application also said that his “severe medical conditions” render extradition to Indian detention facilities a “de facto” death sentence in this case.

The plea cited medical records from July 2024 showing that he has multiple “acute and life-threatening diagnoses”, including multiple documented heart attacks, Parkinson’s disease with cognitive decline, a mass suggestive of bladder cancer, stage 3 chronic kidney disease, a history of chronic asthma, and multiple Covid-19 infections.

Rana’s extradition was cleared by US President Donald Trump last month. In a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump announced that Rana’s extradition had been approved. “We are giving a very violent man back to India immediately. There is more to follow because we have quite a few requests. We work with India on crime, and we want to make things better for India,” Trump stated.

He is wanted in India for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists. Eight locations in Mumbai were targeted by terrorists on November 26, 2008, which claimed the lives of over 174 people.

Rana, 64, faces charges in India for providing logistical support to LeT. He was found guilty in the US for assisting the group, and India has long sought his extradition. He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.