A US court has denied the writ of habeas corpus filed by Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, paving way for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to issue a certification for him to be extradited to India where he is sought for his role in 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. In a victory for India's fight in bringing perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to justice, a US court, in May, approved 62-year-old Rana's extradition to India. In June, Rana, who is detained at Metropolitan Detention Centre in Los Angeles, filed a “writ of habeas corpus” challenging the court order that acceded to the request of the US government that he be extradited to India. “Court has denied Tahawwur Rana’s petition for writ of habeas corpus by a separate order,” Judge Dale S Fischer, US District Judge, Central District of California, wrote in his order on August 10. However, Rana has filed an appeal against the order and sought a stay on his extradition till the time his appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court is heard. Rana faces charges for his role in the Mumbai attacks and is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Judge Fischer, in his order, said Rana has only made two basic arguments in the writ. First, he claims that, pursuant to the treaty, he cannot be extradited because India plans to prosecute him for the same acts for which he was charged and acquitted in a US court. Second, he argues that the government has not established that there is probable cause to believe that Rana committed Indian offences for which he is expected to stand trial, the judge said. He denied both arguments of Rana. “Given that, even if (David) Headley's testimony were the entire basis for the probable cause finding, it would be sufficient for the purposes of habeas review because it constitutes some competent evidence supporting the finding. For the reasons stated above, Rana's petition for a writ of habeas corpus is denied,” the judge wrote. Following Judge Fischer's order, Patrick Blegen and John D Cline, Rana's two attorneys, filed an appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In a separate appeal, Blegen has filed a petition “for a stay of extradition pending his appeal”.
