US Supreme Court clears extradition of Mumbai terror attack convict Tahawwur Rana to India

The US Supreme Court has cleared the extradition of Mumbai terror attack convict Tahawwur Rana to India as it dismissed a review petition against his conviction in the case. India was seeking the extradition of Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Rana, who is accused of playing a major role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks which claimed the lives of 160 people. He is allegedly associated with the Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, who was one of the main conspirators of the attack.

     

This comes weeks after Rana approached the US Supreme Court against his extradition to India after



losing the legal battle in lower courts. This was his last legal chance not to be extradited to India. Earlier, Tahawwur Rana lost a legal battle in several federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the North Circuit in San Francisco.

On 13th of November last year, Rana filed a ‘petition for a writ of certiorari” before the US Supreme Court. This was denied by the apex court on 21st of January, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the US President. 64 year-old Rana is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.