Mumbai terror attack 2008: Tahawwur Rana move US Supreme Court challenging extradition to India, ‘tried, acquitted at…’

 Mumbai attack accused Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, has appealed to the US Supreme Court to block his extradition to India after losing his legal battle in lower courts. Before this, he had knocked on the doors US Court of Appeals for the North Circuit in San Francisco after losing the legal battle.

Rana, who fought a long legal battle, is taking the last chance not to be extradited to India.

In his petition for a writ of certiorari to review the judgment of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Tahawwur Rana argues that he was already tried and acquitted in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) on charges linked to the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack.

“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.

“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.

Tahawwur Rana is accused of involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and is linked to Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist David Coleman Headley, a key conspirator in the 2008 assault on India’s financial hub. The attacks, carried out by 10 Pakistani terrorists, resulted in a 60-hour siege targeting iconic and strategic locations in Mumbai, leaving 166 people dead, including six Americans.

(With inputs from agencies)