US Supreme court clears decks for 26/11 plotter Tahawwur Rana’s extradition to India

Pakistani origin businessman Tahawwur Hussain Rana, who was convicted for his role in the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai that resulted in the death of 164 people, could now be extradited to India. 

Rana’s co-conspirators included, among others, David Headley. Headley pleaded guilty and cooperated against Rana. 

On January 21, The US Supreme Court denied a petition of writ of certiorari filed by Rana seeking to prevent his extradition to India. The writ had been file in November 2024 against an earlier order of a lower court that had ruled in favour of his extradition to India.  A writ of certiorari is a legal document that allows a higher court to review a case from a lower court.

This could pave way for his likely extradition to India. 

Rana was previously prosecuted in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The second superseding indictment charged him in three counts. The jury convicted him on Count 11 (conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in Denmark).  The jury also convicted Rana on Count 12 (providing material support to Lashkar-e Taiyba),

On January 7, 2013, the Northern District of Illinois court sentenced Rana to 168 months in prison. On June 10, 2020, a Magistrate Judge in the Central District of California (where Rana was serving his sentence) signed a provisional arrest warrant with a view to extraditing him to India to face charges there.

India’s charges consist of conspiracy to commit various offenses, including to wage war, to murder, to commit two forms of forgery, and to commit a terrorist act. Rana has remained in custody throughout the extradition process.

Rana opposed extradition but on May 16, 2023, the extradition magistrate judge rejected Rana’s arguments and certified that he is extraditable. Rana then petitioned the United States District Court for the Central District of California for a writ of habeas corpus. On August 15, 2024, the Ninth Circuit Court affirmed the judgment of the habeas court. The court rejected each of Rana’s arguments. 

“Court concludes that Rana is extraditable for the offenses for which extradition has been requested and on which the United States is proceeding and hereby certifies this finding to the United States Secretary of State as required under Title 18, United States Code, section 3184. It is therefore ordered that Tahawwur Hussain Rana be and remain committed to the custody of the United States Marshal pending a final decision on extradition and surrender by the Secretary of State to India for trial of the offenses as to which extradition has been granted pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, section 3186 and the Treaty,” the District Court for the Central District of California had said.

On Nov 13, 2024 Rana filed a writ of certiorari against that verdict in the Supreme Court which the court has now denied.