According to reports, an order has been passed on a stay of the extradition of Tahawwur Rana to India by a US court. The businessman, who is a Pakistani-origin Canadian faces a trial for being involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks and for his link to one of the main conspirators behind the incident, terrorist David Coleman Headley. Earlier the Biden administration urged a California court to deny the writ petition filed by Rana.
In the order issued on August 18, Judge Fischer said, “The extradition of Rana to India is stayed pending the conclusion of his appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.”
Rana appealed against the order by a US District Court in the Central District of California that denied the writ of habeas corpus before the Ninth Circuit Court.
The judge noted that Rana had undoubtedly raised serious legal issues and his position was likely to have been correct on appeal. However, the court did not find that Rana “has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits”.
The judge wrote, “There is value in compliance with India’s extradition request, but Rana’s extradition proceedings have been going on for more than three years, which suggests that the process has not been rushed so far. Otherwise, the public interest, if anything, favours Rana.”
Rana has been asked by the court to submit his argument before October 10 and the court asked the US government to submit its response by November 8.
Meanwhile efforts are being made by the National Investigation Agency for bringing back Rana to India through diplomatic channels. Attacking and killing 166 people in Mumbai, 10 Pakistani terrorists laid siege for more than 60-hour to key sites in late 2008.
