US court docket stays extradition of Mumbai terror assault accused Tahawwur Rana

Overriding the Biden administration’s enchantment, a US court docket has ordered a keep on the extradition of Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, to India the place he’s dealing with a trial for his involvement within the 2008 Mumbai terror assault.

Rana, 62, has appealed earlier than the Ninth Circuit Court in opposition to the order by a US District Court within the Central District of California that denied the writ of habeas corpus.

District Judge Dale S. Fischer of the US District Court in Central California in his newest order mentioned that Rana’s “ex parte application” searching for a keep on his extradition is granted.

“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,” Judge Fischer mentioned within the order issued on August 18.

In doing so the decide overrode the federal government’s suggestions that there needs to be no keep on Rana’s extradition.

Rana faces prices for his function within the Mumbai assaults and is understood to be related to Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of many essential conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai assaults.

While the Court doesn’t discover that Rana “has made a strong showing that he is likely to succeed on the merits” – in any other case the Court would have dominated in his favour within the first occasion – he has actually raised severe authorized questions going to the deserves, the decide wrote.

“The proper meaning of “offence” in Article 6(1) of the extradition treaty is just not clear and completely different jurists may come to completely different conclusions. Rana’s place is actually colourable and will very nicely be discovered to be right on enchantment,” the decide famous.

“The final two factors “merge when the Government is the opposing party.” There is worth in compliance with India’s extradition request, however Rana’s extradition proceedings have been occurring for greater than three years, which means that the method has not been rushed up to now. Otherwise, the general public curiosity, if something, favours Rana,” the decide wrote.

“The public has a strong interest in the proper interpretation of extradition treaties, particularly in the interpretation of provisions that provide important individual protections like the one at issue here. Further, there is a strong public interest in definitive, binding interpretations of treaties. District courts cannot provide those rulings; courts of appeals can,” the decide wrote, throwing the authorized battle to the Ninth Circuit Court now.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has requested Rana to submit his argument earlier than October 10 and the US Government has been requested to submit its response by November 8.

Judge Fischer wrote that Rana has proven that he’s more likely to endure vital irreparable hurt absent a keep.

He will likely be extradited to India for a trial on severe crimes with no hope for a evaluation of his arguments or hope for his return to the United States. The authorities admits this, however then argues that as a result of “this claimed irreparable harm applies categorically to any fugitive who seeks a stay of extradition pending appeal,” it doesn’t rely, the decide mentioned.

Earlier the US lawyer John J Lulejian appealed earlier than the District Court to disclaim Rana’s ex parte utility for a keep of extradition pending enchantment and argued that the keep would trigger “unwarranted delay” within the United States’ fulfilment of its obligations to India and this can injury its credibility within the worldwide area and impair its means to acquire the cooperation of overseas nations in bringing United States fugitives to justice.

Rana, he argued, can not present a chance of success on the deserves of his claims or in any other case meet his burden of justifying a keep. “Accordingly, the United States respectfully requests that the Court deny his ex parte application,” the US lawyer wrote.

Lulejian argued that the District Court ought to deny Rana’s request for a keep for the brink motive that he has didn’t exhibit that he’s more likely to receive a reversal of this Court’s resolution within the Ninth Circuit.

In his ex parte utility for a keep, Rana has made no displaying in any respect, not to mention a robust displaying, that he’s more likely to succeed on the deserves of his enchantment, he argued. Indeed, he merely states that he seeks a keep “to permit his non-bis in idem argument to be heard by the court of appeals.”

India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing Rana’s function within the 26/11 assaults carried out by terrorists of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group. The NIA has mentioned that it is able to provoke proceedings to deliver him to India by means of diplomatic channels.

A complete of 166 individuals, together with six Americans, had been killed within the 2008 Mumbai terror assaults wherein 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a greater than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing individuals at iconic and very important areas of Mumbai.

Published On:

Aug 22, 2023