In a major setback to 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana, the US Supreme Court on Monday rejected his plea to pause his extradition to India, clearing the way for his handover.
Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman, is wanted in India for his alleged role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Rana, 64, is currently lodged in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles and had submitted an “Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus” on February 27, with Elena Kagan, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the US and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit.
Earlier last month, Kagan had denied the application.Rana had then renewed his “Emergency Application for Stay Pending Litigation of Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus previously addressed to Justice Kagan,” and requested that the renewed application be directed to Chief Justice Roberts.
An order on the Supreme Court website noted that Rana’s renewed application has been “distributed for Conference of 4/4/2025” and “application” has been “referred to the Court.” On Monday, a notice on the Supreme Court website said, “Application denied by the Court.”
Who Is Tahawwur Rana?
Tahawwur Hussain Rana is a Pakistani former military doctor who served in the Pakistan Army. Rana moved to Canada after gaining citizenship and became an immigration service businessman. In 2011, he was convicted of providing support to the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and of allegedly plotting an attack on the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
On 17 January 2013, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison in the Danish newspaper attack case. A US court has denied the bail plea of Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, a key accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack and declared a fugitive by India, asserting that he has not negated the “risk of flight”.
Rana was born and raised in Chichawatni in the province of Pakistan’s Punjab and attained his education at the Cadet College Hasan Abdal. Notably, at this college, Rana befriended Headley. A physician by profession, Rana served as a captain general duty practitioner in the Pakistan Army Medical Corps.
He and his wife, who is also a physician, immigrated to Canada in 1997, and obtained Canadian citizenship in June 2001.
Rana is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.
In July last year, A US court rejected the USD 1.5 million bail application of the Pakistani-origin Canadian describing him a flight risk.
Rana, a childhood friend of David Coleman Headley, was re-arrested on June 10 last year in Los Angeles on an extradition request by India for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which 166 people, including six Americans, were killed. He is a declared fugitive in India.
US District Court Judge in Los Angeles Jacqueline Chooljian, in her 24-page order dated July 21, denied bail to Rana arguing that he is a flight risk.
In August last year, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Rana was “extraditable to India” citing the extradition treaty between the two countries. Rana along with Headley planned the Mumbai terror attack.
