Dubbing it a “big win for India”, 26/11 prosecutor and senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam welcomed the US Supreme Court’s decision to clear Mumbai attack convict Tahawwur Rana's extradition.
“The US didn’t accept his arguments and pleas. I am happy that the Trump government will send him immediately," Nikam told CNN-News18. Rana is currently at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.
India has been seeking the extradition of the 64-year-old Canadian national of Pakistani origin in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack case.
VIDEO | Here's what 26/11 prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said on extradition of Mumbai terror attack convict Tahawwur Rana.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 25, 2025
"It is a great victory for India. Tahawwur Hussain Rana's extradition would expose many sensitive revelations. Tahawwur Rana and American terrorist David Headley… pic.twitter.com/HVMsmo03i9
Dismissing Rana’s review petition against his conviction in the case, US Solicitor General Elizabeth B Prelogar said, “The government does not concede that all of the conduct on which India seeks extradition was covered by the government's prosecution in this case. For example, India's forgery charges are based in part on conduct that was not charged in the United States: petitioner's use of false information in an application to formally open a branch office of the Immigration Law Center submitted to the Reserve Bank of India.” She added that Rana was not entitled to relief from extradition to India in this case.
It was his last legal chance to prevent extradition to India, as he had lost a legal battle in several federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the North Circuit in San Francisco. He had filed a petition for a writ of certiorari before the US Supreme Court on November 13 last year, which was denied by the US Supreme Court on January 21.
ALSO READ: Tahawwur Rana knew about my association with LeT: Headley
Rana is associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, when 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists attacked several parts of the city, including the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway station, Leopold Café, Nariman House, Oberoi Trident and Taj Mahal Palace & Tower. The siege lasted more than 60 hours. Nine terrorists were killed; Ajmal Kasab was arrested, and later tried and hanged.
