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Plea Against Extradition of 26/11 Accused Tahawwur Rana
Context:
The United States Supreme Court has dismissed the plea of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, an accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, against his extradition to India.
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- The 64-year-old had filed an emergency application to stay his extradition after former President Donald Trump approved the request following his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
- Rana’s extradition is based on the India-US Extradition Treaty, signed in 1997, which facilitates the transfer of individuals charged with serious offences in either country.
Double Jeopardy
Double jeopardy is a legal principle that prevents an individual from being tried or punished twice for the same offense. Article 20(2) of the Indian Constitution states, “No person shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once.” However, it only protects against autrefois convict (previously convicted), not autrefois acquit (previously acquitted), which is covered under statutory law.
Tahawwur Rana’s Case: A Timeline
- Rana, a Pakistani-origin Canadian citizen, is accused of aiding David Coleman Headley in reconnaissance for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
- He was arrested in Chicago in October 2009 for his involvement in both the Mumbai attacks and a foiled terrorist plot against the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
- In 2011, the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois tried him on charges of providing material support to terrorism in India and Denmark, as well as aiding the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group.
- While the jury acquitted him of charges related to India, he was convicted on the other two counts and sentenced to 168 months (14 years) in prison on January 7, 2013.
- Rana was released on compassionate grounds on June 9, 2020.
- The following day, a magistrate judge in California signed a provisional arrest warrant based on India’s request for his extradition, submitted in December 2019.
- Rana opposed his extradition, arguing “double jeopardy” — that he was being prosecuted again for crimes for which he had already been tried.
- However, a magistrate judge rejected his plea on May 16, 2023.
- He then filed a petition in the US District Court for the Central District of California, which was also dismissed on August 10, 2023.
- Subsequently, his appeal in the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit was denied, following which he sought a writ of certiorari from the US Supreme Court.
- His final emergency plea to block extradition was rejected in January 2024.
India-US Extradition Treaty and Its Implications
- Legal Framework: The India-US Extradition Treaty establishes a legal framework for the extradition of individuals charged with or convicted of serious offences.
- An offence qualifies for extradition if it carries a punishment of more than one year in both countries.
- Exemptions: Political offences are generally excluded, though exceptions include crimes such as murder or violent acts against heads of state, aircraft hijacking, sabotage, hostage-taking, and attacks on internationally protected persons.
- Rana’s Case: In Rana’s case, US authorities argued that his offences met the extradition treaty’s criteria, with “probable cause” supporting India’s charges.
- However, the US government did not consider Indian charges such as “membership of a terror organisation” and “conspiracy to wage war” since they did not meet the treaty’s requirement of dual criminality—an offence must be punishable in both India and the US.
- Rana’s “double jeopardy” claim was also rejected by the Ninth Circuit Court, which ruled that India’s charges had distinct legal elements from the charges for which he was acquitted in the US.
Extradition of Individuals from the US to India
- Rare Phenomenon: Since the signing of the treaty in 1997, only 11 individuals have been extradited between 2002 and 2018.
- The offences in these cases ranged from financial fraud to violent crimes such as sexual abuse and attempted murder.
- Terrorism: Only two individuals linked to terrorism have been extradited so far—Charanjeet Singh Cheema and Kulbeer Singh Kulbeera, both alleged Khalistani extremists, in 2005 and 2006, respectively.
- Frequent Rejections: The US has frequently rejected India’s extradition requests.
- Notably, it refused to extradite David Coleman Headley, Rana’s associate and a key conspirator in the 26/11 attacks.
- Headley, who was arrested in 2009, pleaded guilty to charges in the US and received a 35-year sentence.
- One of the conditions of his plea deal was that he would not be extradited to India.
- Similarly, the US denied India’s request to extradite Warren Anderson, former CEO of Union Carbide, in connection with the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster.
- Although Anderson was arrested in India, he was soon released on bail and left the country.
- When India formally sought his extradition in 2003, the US declined, citing insufficient evidence.
- Notably, it refused to extradite David Coleman Headley, Rana’s associate and a key conspirator in the 26/11 attacks.
