26/11 accused’s last legal stand: Tahawwur Rana’s lawyer appeals to US Supreme Court to block extradition to India | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Mumbai 26/11 attack accused Tahawwur Rana is making his final legal attempt to avoid extradition to India. His lawyer, Joshua L. Dratel, has appealed to the US Supreme Court, challenging the lower court’s ruling, arguing that extradition would violate the double jeopardy principle, which protects against being tried twice for the same crime.
Rana’s lawyer stated that the court should prevent the extradition based on how “offence” is defined in the US-India extradition treaty. Dratel argued, “The (Supreme) Court should grant the writ. On the merits, it should hold that the term “offence” in the double jeopardy provision of the United States-India extradition treaty (and many other similar treaties) refers to the conduct underlying the charges in the two countries, rather than the elements of the crimes the respective countries have charged.”
The US top court will confer on this matter on January 17.
Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian citizen and currently in Los Angeles, was found to be connected to David Headley, a key conspirator in the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He was previously tried in Chicago for his links to the attacks which resulted in 166 deaths, including six Americans. Rana’s legal team contends the charges in India stem from the same actions already addressed in the Chicago trial.
However, US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar disagrees. She told the Supreme Court, “The government does not concede that all of the conduct on which India seeks extradition was covered by the government’s prosecution in this case.” She pointed to India’s forgery accusations against Rana, relating to a fraudulent application he submitted to the Reserve Bank of India, as an example of conduct not addressed in the US prosecution.
This comes as the US government in December supported India’s request to extradite Rana. The US Solicitor General Prelogar had called upon the US Supreme Court to reject “the petition for a writ of certiorari” submitted by Rana.
Read full story: US government asks Supreme Court to dismiss Tahawwur Rana’s plea
Prior to this, Rana had appealed his extradition in lower courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, but was unsuccessful. “The (India US Extradition) Treaty permits Rana’s extradition,” the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had ruled in August. He then filed the “petition for a writ of certiorari” with the Supreme Court on November 13.