US Supreme Court Clears 26/11 Convict Tahawwur Rana's Extradition To India

The Supreme Court decision finalized the extradition proceedings against India which represented Tahawwur Rana's ultimate legal avenue to evade extradition. Federal courts handed him several losses and the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco issued one defeat.

Rana submitted his "petition for a writ of certiorari" to the US Supreme Court on November 13. The Supreme Court declined Rana's petition on January 21 which was the day after Donald Trump took office as president.

"Petition DENIED," the Supreme Court said.

The Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles currently holds Rana who is 64 years old.

The US government presented arguments in court that the writ of certiorari petition should receive denial. The US Solicitor General Elizabeth B Prelogar made this statement during the filing before the Supreme Court on December 16.

The court determined that Rana had no legal right to receive protection against extradition to India according to this case.

Rana's petition for a writ of certiorari to review the Ninth Circuit's decision argued he faced federal trial and acquittal in the Northern District of Illinois for his role in the 2008 Mumbai attack.

Prelogar disagreed.

The government refuses to accept that the entire conduct India wants to use for Tahawwur Rana Extradition to India was included in this case's prosecution. For example, India's forgery charges are based in part on conduct that was not charged in the United States: India's forgery charges include the petitioner's submission of false information to start an Immigration Law Center branch office with the Reserve Bank of India which the United States did not charge.

Prelogar stated that because the jury's verdict in this conspiracy case was complex to understand it does not confirm that the individual was convicted or acquitted for every specific action that India charged.