A United States court has denied Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana’s writ of habeas corpus, thus opening up the path for Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a certification for him to be extradited to India where a trial is underway for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
“The court has denied Tahawwur Rana’s petition for writ of habeas corpus by a separate order,” Judge Dale S Fischer, United States District Judge, Central District of California, wrote in his order on August 2.
Rana, however, has filed an appeal against the order seeking a stay on his extradition to India till the time his appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court is heard.
In June this year, Rana had filed “writ of habeas corpus” challenging a court order that acceded to the request of the US government that the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks accused be extradited to India.
The judge said in his order that Rana has only made two basic arguments in the writ petition.
“First, he claims that, pursuant to the treaty, he cannot be extradited because India plans to prosecute him for the same acts for which he was charged and acquitted in a United States court. Second, he argues that the government has not established that there is probable cause to believe that Rana committed the Indian offenses for which he is expected to stand trial,” the judge said and denied both of his arguments.
“Given that, even if (David) Headley’s testimony were the entire basis for the probable cause finding, it would be sufficient for the purposes of habeas review because it constitutes some competent evidence supporting the finding. For the reasons stated above, Rana’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus is DENIED,” the judge wrote.
After the order, Rana’s two attorneys, Patrick Blegen and John D Cline, filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from the Order entered on August 10, 2023, for denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus.
In a separate appeal, Blegen has filed a petition “for a stay of extradition pending his appeal”.
“As set forth in the accompanying memorandum, petitioner submits that a stay of extradition pending appeal is appropriate because he has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits of his non bis in idem claim; he will suffer irreparable harm if he is extradited, potentially including the death penalty; a stay pending appeal will not substantially injure the government; and the public interest favors a full review of Rana's non bis claim before he is sent to a country that seeks to execute him,” Rana’s attorney wrote on August 14.
In June, the Joe Biden administration had urged the court to deny Rana’s writ of habeas corpus.
“The United States respectfully requests that the court deny Rana’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus,” said E Martin Estrada, US attorney for Central District of California.
Filing the writ of habeas corpus through his attorney, Rana challenged his extradition by the government of India.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Rana's extradition
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during the recently concluded Monsoon session of the Parliament, said that Tahawwur Rana “will face the Indian judiciary soon”.
Earlier in May, US envoy to India, Eric Garcetti also stated that the United States court has given the mandate that the extradition of Tahawwur Rana should occur. He added that it is a sort of collaboration and cooperation where both nations are working together "to bring terrorists to justice, and we won't stop."
Rana was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India for his role in the Mumbai attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing over 160 people, including six Americans, at iconic and vital locations in Mumbai.
Indian authorities allege that Rana conspired with his childhood friend David Coleman Headley to assist the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba in orchestrating the terror attacks.
NIA is probing Rana's role in the 26/11 attacks carried out by terrorists of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group. The NIA has said that it is ready to initiate proceedings to bring him to India through diplomatic channels.
A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations of Mumbai.
(With inputs from agencies)
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