In a pivotal legal development the imminent extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key conspirator in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Delhi’s Patiala House Court has recalled its trial court records associated with the case.
This decision was prompted by an application from the National Investigation Agency in Delhi, requesting the retrieval of these records from Mumbai, where multiple related cases had previously necessitated their transfer.
The retrieval of these documents raises the possibility that Rana’s prosecution may now proceed in Delhi. The United States government has recently authorized Rana’s extradition to India, reinforcing the legal framework for his trial. Former U.S. President Donald Trump had characterized Rana as one of the “plotters and very evil people of the world.”
A Pakistan-born Canadian national, Rana was a close associate of David Coleman Headley, a key figure in orchestrating the 26/11 attacks. Following the completion of a 14-year prison sentence in 2023, he remains under supervised detention at a metropolitan detention center in Los Angeles.
On January 21, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for a writ of certiorari submitted by Rana in an effort to obstruct his extradition.
This petition, filed in November 2024, aimed to contest an earlier ruling by a lower court that had affirmed his extradition to India. The writ of certiorari serves as a legal instrument permitting higher judicial review of lower court decisions.
Rana had previously faced prosecution in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. A second superseding indictment charged him with multiple offenses, resulting in his conviction on Count 11 (conspiracy to provide material support to terrorism in Denmark) and Count 12 (providing material support to Lashkar-e-Taiba).
India has leveled extensive charges against Rana, including conspiracy to wage war against the state, murder, two counts of forgery, and committing a terrorist act. Throughout the ongoing extradition proceedings, he has remained in custody.
Despite his persistent opposition to extradition, on May 16, 2023, an extradition magistrate ruled against him and certified his extraditability. In response, Rana filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus with the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
However, on August 15, 2024, the Ninth Circuit Court upheld the lower court’s judgment, dismissing all of Rana’s arguments and conclusively affirming the order for his extradition to India.
Read More: Supreme Court, Delhi High Court, States High Court, International
