On Thursday, March 6, the Supreme Court of the United States denied the “emergency application” of Tahawwur Rana, a prominent defendant in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Rana was attempting to prevent his extradition to India, claiming that he would be subjected to “torture.”
Justice Kagan denied Tahawwur Rana’s application (24A852), as indicated on the US Supreme Court website.
Additionally, the United States has rejected the extradition appeal of 26/11 convict Tahawwur Rana. The following is his next course of action:
Currently, Tahawwur Rana, 64, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani descent, is being held at a metropolitan detention center in Los Angeles. He is associated with David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American terrorist who was one of the primary conspirators behind the Mumbai attacks.
What Tahawwur Rana disclosed to the United States Supreme Court
In order to postpone his extradition until all legal appeals have been exhausted, Tahawwur Rana submitted a “Emergency Application for Stay” to the Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court.
In the application, Tahawwur Rana argued that his extradition would violate the United Nations Convention Against Torture and US law, and that there are substantial grounds to believe that he would be subjected to torture if transferred to India. He also asserted that his likelihood of being tortured is significantly increased due to his Pakistani heritage as a Muslim.
The application also emphasized Tahawwur Rana’s severe medical conditions, asserting that his extradition to Indian detention would be tantamount to a “death sentence.” Rana is said to be suffering from a variety of “life-threatening conditions,” such as numerous heart attacks, Parkinson’s disease with cognitive decline, possible bladder cancer, stage 3 chronic kidney disease, and a history of asthma and Covid-19 infections, as per medical records from July 2024.
Rana’s emergency application for stay, which was uploaded to the US Supreme Court website, further stated that the petitioner is unlikely to survive such treatment due to his consistently declining health. This includes a 3.5 cm abdominal aortic aneurysm that is at immediate risk of rupture under conditions of stress or physical exertion, two other bilateral iliac aneurysms that further exacerbate the risk of catastrophic internal hemorrhage, multiple documented heart attacks, Parkinson’s disease with cognitive decline, a mass suggestive of bladder cancer, stage 3 chronic kidney disease, and a history of chronic asthma, COPD, and multiple Covid-19 infections.
Tahawwur Rana’s legal team contended that his health and the context of his allegations in the Mumbai attacks place him at a higher risk of torture, which could result in his death. They argued that the fairness of his extradition process is compromised by the US government’s failure to resolve these concerns.
