'I will be tortured' : Mumbai terror plotter Rana urges US court to stop India extradition
Rana, 63, now lodged in a Los Angeles jail, claimed there was a high likelihood of him being tortured in India as he was a Muslim of Pakistani origin.
Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana, an accused in the Mumbai terror attack, has urged the US Supreme Court to stay his planned extradition to India, claiming he would be tortured there as he is a Muslim.
Rana’s lawyers made the eleventh-hour judicial submission after President Donald Trump announced in February that his administration had approved Rana’s extradition to India.
Trump stated this during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington.
Rana’s lawyers act
The lawyers have moved the Supreme Court seeking an emergency stay of his extradition to India.
Also Read: Trump clears 26/11 plotter Tahawwur Rana’s extradition to India; what's next?
In his application, accessed by India Today, Rana, 63, now lodged in a Los Angeles jail, said there was a high likelihood of him being tortured in India as he was a Muslim of Pakistani origin.
Rana is said to be associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist David Headley, one of the main conspirators of the Mumbai attack that killed 166 Indians and foreigners.
Rana claims ill-health
Rana said in his petition that he suffered from multiple ailments, including an advanced cardiac aneurysm, Parkinson's with cognitive decline, and possible bladder cancer.
Rana's lawyers argued that he may not survive long enough to face trial. Rana's lawyers argued that he cannot be sent into a "hornets' nest" where he would be pointed to as a "target of national, religious and cultural animosity".
Indian government attacked
The application cited the 2023 Human Rights Watch report that alleged systematic discrimination and stigmatisation of religious minorities, particularly Muslims, by the Indian government. The application alleged that the Indian government was "increasingly autocratic", arguing that Rana's right to a fair trial would be jeopardised.
On January 21, the US Supreme Court rejected a review petition filed by Rana.
Pakistan to West
A former doctor in the Pakistani Army, Rana later moved to Canada and embraced Canadian citizenship before shifting his immigration business to the United States.
Rana and Headley were given a trial in absentia in a Mumbai high court for their involvement in the Mumbai terror attack. India has sought their extradition from the US.
NIA team to US
In May 2023, the US Supreme Court approved Rana’s extradition to India. Trump merely confirmed this in February 2025.
India Today quoted unnamed Indian government sources as saying that a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team would travel to the US once clearance for Rana’s extradition reaches New Delhi.
