Mumbai terror attack case: US government urges Supreme Court to dismiss Rana’s writ petition

Defeated in the lower courts and several federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the Northern District of San Francisco, Mumbai attack convict Tahawwur Rana on November 13 filed a “petition for writ of certiorari” before the US Supreme. The court. File | Photo Credit: AP

The United States government has urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the “petition for a writ of certiorari” filed by Mumbai attack case-Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian of Pakistani origin, against his extradition to India.

India is seeking the extradition of Rana as he is wanted in the Mumbai terror attack case. Having lost a legal battle in several lower courts and federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the Northern District in San Francisco, Rana on November 13 filed a “petition for writ of certiorari” before the US Supreme Court.

In the long war, this is the Rana’s last official chance not to be extradited to India.

“The petition for a writ of certiorari must be denied,” said US Attorney General Elizabeth B. Prelogar when she filed the petition with the Supreme Court on December 16, 2024.

“Rana has no right to be exempted from extradition to India in this case,” he said in a 20-page statement.

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In his “petition for writ of certiorari to review the decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit”, Rana argued that he was tried and acquitted in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago). regarding the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. “India now wants to bring him back to court to face charges based on similar conduct in the Chicago case,” the petition said.

“The government does not agree that all of the conduct that India seeks to extradite is connected to the government’s prosecution of this case. For example, India’s fraud charges are based in part on conduct not prosecuted in the United States: an applicant’s use of false information on an application to legally open a branch office of the Immigration Law Center sent to the Reserve Bank of India,” said the American Solicitor General.

“It is not clear whether the jury’s verdict in this case – which involved conspiracy charges and was difficult to appeal – means ‘guilty or acquittal’ for all the conduct imposed by India,” Ms Prelogar said. .