US asks court not to stop 26/11 accused Rana’s extradition

US asks court not to stop 26/11 accused Rana’s extradition

New Delhi: The US administration has urged a court to deny the writ of habeas corpus filed by Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana and sought his extradition to India to face trial for his involvement in the November 26, 2008, Mumbai terror attacks. “The US respectfully requests the court to deny Rana’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus,” said E Martin Estrada, US attorney for Central District of California in his petition before the US District Court for the Central District of California.

Last month, Rana had filed a writ of habeas corpus challenging a court order, which approved the US government’s request that he be extradited to India. Opposing Rana’s petition, Estrada said the petitioner was unable to demonstrate that India’s extradition request lacked sufficient evidence of probable cause.

Estrada, at an earlier hearing, had argued that Rana’s claims about the legitimacy of his business in Mumbai were fictitious. Rana’s attorney has argued that his extradition would violate the US-India extradition treaty on two counts. First, a US court has tried and acquitted Rana for charges based on the identical conduct for which India sought to prosecute him. The treaty says, “Extradition shall not be granted when the person sought has been convicted or acquitted in the requested state for the offence for which extradition is requested”. Second, the materials submitted by the government of India failed to establish he committed the offences, the attorney said. “The extradition request thus fails to satisfy Article 9.3(c) of the treaty,” the attorney contended.

A US court had in May approved Rana’s extradition to India, ending a four-year case which began with India filing a complaint in 2020 seeking his provisional arrest as a first step towards extradition. The Biden Administration had supported and approved the extradition of Rana to India.