Mumbai terror attacks: 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana extraditable to India, says US court

Mumbai terror attacks: The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, who is sought by India for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, is extraditable to India under the extradition treaty between the two countries.

“The (India-US Extradition) Treaty permits Rana's extradition,” the court said on August 15.

On Rana's appeal, a panel of judges from the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit confirmed the District Court in the Central District of California's denial of his habeas corpus petition challenging a magistrate judge's certification of his extradition to India for his alleged participation in terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

Under the limited scope of habeas review of an extradition order, the court held that Rana's alleged offence fell within the terms of the US-India extradition treaty, including a Non-Bis in Idem (double jeopardy) exception to extraditability "when the person sought has been convicted or acquitted in the Requested State for the offence for which extradition is requested".

The panel ruled, based on the plain text of the treaty, the State Department's technical analysis, and convincing case law from other circuits, that the term "offence" refers to a charged crime, not underlying activities, and that an investigation of the elements of each offence is necessary.

The panel of three judges ruled that a co-conspirator's plea deal did not require a different outcome. The court concluded that the Non-Bis in Idem exception did not apply because the Indian charges differed from the crimes for which Rana was acquitted in the United States.

In its decision, the panel also determined that India produced sufficient competent evidence to support the magistrate judge's conclusion of probable cause that Rana committed the cited crimes. The three judges were Milan D Smith, Bridget S Bade, and Sidney A Fitzwater.