Washington. Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, has suffered a major setback. In a major setback to Tahawwur Rana, wanted by India, the US appeals court has ruled that he can be extradited to India under the extradition treaty between the two countries.
In its ruling on August 15, the court said, “The (India-US Extradition) Treaty permits the extradition of Rana.”
Delivering a verdict on an appeal filed by Rana, a panel of judges of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of his habeas corpus petition by the District Court in the Central District of California challenging the certification by a magistrate judge of his extradition to India for his alleged involvement in the terror attacks in Mumbai.
The panel held that Rana’s alleged crime fell within the terms of the extradition treaty between the United States and India, under the limited scope of habeas corpus review of an extradition order, including the non bis in idem (double jeopardy) exception to extradition “when the person sought has been convicted or acquitted in the requested State of the offense for which extradition is requested”.
The three-judge panel concluded that the co-conspirator’s plea agreement did not force a different outcome. The panel held that the non bis in idem exception did not apply because the Indian charges involved different elements from the crimes for which Rana was acquitted in the United States.
The panel also held in its decision that India had provided sufficient competent evidence to support the magistrate judge’s conclusion that Rana had committed the alleged crimes. The three judges on the panel included Milan D. Smith, Bridget S. Bedd and Sidney A. Fitzwater.
Rana, a Pakistani national, was tried in a US district court on charges related to providing support to a terrorist organisation that carried out the massive terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The jury convicted Rana of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation and conspiring to provide material support to a foiled plot to carry out terrorist attacks in Denmark.