The United States Supreme Court has rejected an emergency application by Tahawwur Rana, accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, opposing his extradition to India. Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, had sought a stay on his extradition, claiming he would face torture in India due to his background.
Rana had filed an “Emergency Application For Stay” with the Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit.
In his petition, he argued that his extradition would violate United States law and the United Nations Convention Against Torture, stating, “there are substantial grounds for believing that, if extradited to India, petitioner will be in danger of being subjected to torture.”
The application further claimed that “the likelihood of torture in this case is even higher though as petitioner faces acute risk as a Muslim of Pakistani origin charged in the Mumbai attacks.”
Rana also cited his medical conditions, arguing that extradition to Indian detention facilities would amount to a “de facto” death sentence. Medical records from July 2024 listed multiple health issues, including documented heart attacks, Parkinson’s disease with cognitive decline, a mass suggestive of bladder cancer, stage 3 chronic kidney disease, chronic asthma, and multiple COVID-19 infections.
Through his appeal, Rana stated, “if a stay is not entered, there will be no review at all, and the US courts will lose jurisdiction, and the petitioner will soon be dead.”
The Supreme Court’s decision follows weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with former US President Donald Trump in Washington, where Trump announced the extradition of Rana, referring to him as “very evil” and stating he would “face justice in India” over his alleged role in the 26/11 attacks, which killed 166 people.
The 26/11 attacks targeted eight locations in south Mumbai between November 26 and November 29, 2008. Rana, 64, is associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators behind the attacks.
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