Kochi, Jan 29: Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale deal, Congress President Rahul Gandhi Tuesday claimed that former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had clearly stated that he has nothing to do with the 'new deal.'

"Friends, the ex-defence minister Mr Parrikar clearly stated that he has nothing to do with the new deal that was orchestrated by Mr Narendra Modi to benefit Anil Ambani," he told a booth-level party workers meeting here.

His statement came hours after he met Parrikar, now Goa Chief Minister, at the state assembly complex in Panaji.

The Congress President,however, did not clarify whether the issue was discussed during his meeting with Parrikar, who is suffering from a pancreatic ailment.

Gandhi made the remarks a day after he alleged that the "Goa audio tapes", cited by the Congress to attack the Centre on the Rafale issue, were authentic and that Parrikar was in possession of "explosive secrets" that give him power over Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Reiterating his charge against Modi over the Rafale deal, Gandhi said he has taken Rs 30,000 crore of people's money and given it to his friend Anil Ambani.

"Why was a plane that costs Rs 526 crore bought at a price of Rs 1,600 crore? he asked.

The youngsters of the country, the youngsters of Kerala-- they get only one answer.

And the answer is that the Prime Minister of India is corrupt," he said.

The Congress has been targeting Modi on the deal,alleging that the price of each aircraft was sharply hiked from around Rs 526 crore, negotiated under the deal during UPA, to Rs 1,600 crore and that the contract would help Anil Ambani get Rs 30,000 crore benefit through offset contract.

The government has denied the charges and has accused the Congress of spreading 'falsehood' on the issue.

Gandhi questioned the removal of the CBI chief even after the Supreme Court reinstated him and alleged that the prime minister did it to "protect himself" and "ensure that no enquiry is carried out" against him in the Rafale deal.

"Why did the ex-president of France tell the press clearly that he was told by the Indian prime minister to give the Rafale contract to Mr Anil Ambani.

I want to ask why was a man who has no experience in building an aircraft given a contract after it was snatched away from those people (Hindustan Aeronautical Limited), who are building the aircraft for 70 years?" Gandhi asked.

The Congress president said thousands of young Indians who could have got high paid jobs in HAL have now 'lost the opportunity.'

No defence capabilities were going to be built in India due to Modi's actions, he alleged.

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New York, Apr 7 (PTI): The US Supreme Court has rejected 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana's appeal seeking a stay on his extradition to India, moving him closer to being handed over to Indian authorities to face justice.

Rana, 64, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles.

He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks. Headley conducted a recce of Mumbai before the attacks by posing as an employee of Rana’s immigration consultancy.

Rana had submitted an ‘Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus' on February 27, 2025, with Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit Elena Kagan.

Kagan had denied the application earlier last month.

Rana had then renewed his ‘Emergency Application for Stay Pending Litigation of Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus previously addressed to Justice Kagan’, and requested that the renewed application be directed to US Chief Justice John Roberts.

An order on the Supreme Court website noted that Rana's renewed application had been “distributed for Conference” on April 4 and the “application” has been “referred to the Court.”

A notice on the Supreme Court website Monday said that “Application denied by the Court.”

Rana was convicted in the US of one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the terrorist plot in Denmark and one count of providing material support to Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashker-e-Taiba which was responsible for the attacks in Mumbai.

New York-based Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra had told PTI that Rana had made his application to the Supreme Court to prevent extradition, which Justice Kagan denied on March 6. The application was then submitted before Roberts, “who has shared it with the Court to conference so as to harness the entire Court’s view.”

The Supreme Court justices are Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

In his emergency application, Rana had sought a stay of his extradition and surrender to India pending litigation (including exhaustion of all appeals) on the merits of his February 13.

In that petition, Rana argued that his extradition to India violates US law and the UN Convention Against Torture "because there are substantial grounds for believing that, if extradited to India, the petitioner will be in danger of being subjected to torture."

"The likelihood of torture in this case is even higher though as petitioner faces acute risk as a Muslim of Pakistani origin charged in the Mumbai attacks,” the application said.

The application also said that his “severe medical conditions” render extradition to Indian detention facilities a “de facto" death sentence in this case.

The US Supreme Court denied Rana's petition for a writ of certiorari relating to his original habeas petition on January 21. The application notes that on that same day, newly-confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio had met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington on February 12 to meet with Trump, Rana’s counsel received a letter from the Department of State, stating that “on February 11, 2025, the Secretary of State decided to authorise” Rana’s "surrender to India,” pursuant to the “Extradition Treaty between the United States and India”.

Rana’s Counsel requested from the State Department the complete administrative record on which Secretary Rubio based his decision to authorize Rana’s surrender to India.

The Counsel also requested immediate information of any commitment the United States has obtained from India with respect to Rana’s treatment. “The government declined to provide any information in response to these requests,” the application said.

It added that given Rana’s underlying health conditions and the State Department’s findings regarding the treatment of prisoners, it is very likely “Rana will not survive long enough to be tried in India".

During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi in the White House in February, President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.

A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations in Mumbai.