Source: PTI
Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana has filed a writ of
habeas corpus challenging a recent US court order that paved the way for
his extradition to India where he is facing trial for his involvement
in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
Last month, the US District Court Central District of California
approved the extradition of the 26/11 attack accused Rana to India.
Filing the Writ of habeas corpus through his attorney, Rana, 62,
challenged his extradition by the Government of India. Rana's
extradition would violate the United States-India extradition treaty in
two respects, his attorney argued.
The writ of habeas corpus primarily acts as a writ of inquiry, issued to
test the reasons or grounds for restraint and detention.
First, Rana has been tried and acquitted in the United States District
Court for the Northern District of Illinois for charges based on the
identical conduct for which India seeks to prosecute him.
It argued that extradition is therefore barred under Article 6 (1) of the
Treaty, which declares that "Extradition shall not be granted when the
person sought has been convicted or acquitted in the Requested State for
the offence for which extradition is requested."
Second, the materials submitted by the Indian government -- consisting
principally of transcripts and exhibits from Rana's trial in the
Northern District of Illinois -- fail to establish probable cause that
he committed the offences for which India has charged him.
The Indian government's extradition request thus fails to satisfy
Article 9.3(c) of the Treaty, it said adding that the Court should grant
the writ of habeas corpus, deny extradition, and order Rana released,
the writ says.
On June 10, 2020, India filed a complaint seeking the provisional arrest
of Rana with a view towards extradition. The Biden administration had
supported and approved the extradition of Rana to India.
"The Court has reviewed and considered all of the documents submitted in
support of and in opposition to the Request, and has considered the
arguments presented at the hearing," Judge Jacqueline Chooljian, US
Magistrate Judge of the US District Court Central District of
California, said in a 48-page court order dated May 16.
During court hearings, US Government attorneys argued that Rana was
aware that his childhood friend Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley
was involved with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and that by assisting Headley
and affording him cover for his activities, he was supporting the
terrorist organisation and its associates.
Rana knew of Headley's meetings, what was discussed, and the planning of
the attacks, including some of the targets. The US government asserted
that Rana was part of the conspiracy and there is probable cause that he
committed the substantive crime of commission of a terrorist act.
Rana's attorney on the other hand opposed the extradition.
Rana is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los
Angeles. Rana was arrested in the US on an extradition request by India
for his role in these attacks.
India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing his role in
the 26/11 attacks carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba
terrorists in 2008. The NIA has said that it is ready to initiate
proceedings to bring him to India through diplomatic channels.
A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008
Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than
60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital
locations of Mumbai.
