The US Supreme Court, sitting in Washington, endorsed the extradition of the prime accused of the Mumbai attacks of 2008, Tahawwur Hussain Rana, on Saturday. The apex court in the United States disentailed a petition of Rana challenging the extradition order against him; plenty of them are Canadian nationals of Pakistani family convents and the police have charged him with involvement in the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Some references had been given by Rana’s attorney in support of this application earlier this month, asking the trial court to halt Rana’s extradition on the interpretation of ‘crime’ in the US-India extradition treaty.
The stage is thus set for the extradition of Rana to India. With the decision to withdraw Rana from his appeals in the federal circuit courts throughout the various stages, there was enough hope in the company of the last carrier the one could have employed to interrupt his downward slide. Rana is currently lodged in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.
Extradition supported by US government
The US government had backed the Indian government’s extradition request last year. Rana had sought review from the Supreme Court on 13 November, the instant a federal court allowed his extradition, by a petition for a writ of certiorari. Subsequently, the US Solicitor General filed a plea, urging the court to throw out his petition on 16 December.
Linked with David Coleman Headley
The name of Rana is quite usual when talking about Mrs. David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-born US citizen, the chief coordinator of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. A total of ten Pakistani terrorists stormed Mumbai, India’s financial capital in 2008. The gunmen opened fire at several locations for 60 hours in which 166 people, including six Americans, were killed.
