The United States government has urged the Supreme Court to dismiss "the petition for a writ of certiorari" (a legal document that requests the Supreme Court to review a lower court's decision) filed by Mumbai-attack convict Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, against his extradition to India.
India is seeking the extradition of Rana as he is wanted in the Mumbai terror attack case. Having lost the legal battle in lower courts and several federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the North Circuit in San Francisco, Rana on November 13 filed a "petition for a writ of certiorari" before the US Supreme Court.
In a long battle, this is Rana's last legal chance to not be extradited to India. "The petition for a writ of certiorari should be denied," US Solicitor General Elizabeth B Prelogar said in its filing before the Supreme Court on December 16.
Rana is not entitled to relief from extradition to India in this case, she argued in a 20-page submission. In his "petition for a writ of certiorari to review the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit", Rana has argued that he was tried and acquitted in the 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," the plea has said. Prelogar disagreed.
"The government does not concede that all of the conduct on which India seeks extradition was covered by the government's prosecution in this case. For example, India's forgery charges are based in part on conduct that was not charged in the United States: petitioner's use of false information in an application to formally open a branch office of the Immigration Law Centre submitted to the Reserve Bank of India," the US solicitor general said.
"It is not clear that the jury's verdict in this case -- which involves conspiracy charges and was somewhat difficult to parse -- means that he has been 'convicted or acquitted' on all of the specific conduct that India has charged," Prelogar said.
About the deadly incident
It is pertinent to mention here that On November 26, 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists from Pakistan arrived by sea route and opened fire, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others during the 60-hour siege in Mumbai.
The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Hotel, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital and the Nariman House Jewish community centre, now renamed Nariman Light House, were some of the places targeted by terrorists.
At least, nine terrorists were later killed by the security forces, including the NSG, the country’s elite commando force. Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist who was captured alive. He was hanged four years later on November 21, 2012.
(With inputs from agency)
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