US SC justices to hear Tahawwur Rana's renewed application seeking stay of extradition to India
New York (PTI): US Supreme Court justices will hear next month Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana’s renewed application, submitted to Chief Justice John Roberts, seeking a stay of his extradition to India.
Rana, 64, is currently lodged in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles and submitted an "Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus” on February 27, 2025 with Elena Kagan, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit.
Earlier this month, Kagan had denied the application.
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 Chief Justice Roberts.
An order on the Supreme Court website noted that Rana’s renewed application has been “distributed for Conference of 4/4/2025” and “application” has been “referred to the Court.”
New York-based eminent Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra told PTI that Rana had made his application to the Supreme Court to prevent extradition, which Justice Kagan denied on March 6.
The application is now before Roberts, “who has shared it with the Court to conference so as to harness the entire Court’s view.”
Batra added that the issue before the Supreme Court is that since the President is constitutionally empowered to engage in foreign policy in the comity of nations and “it’s our national policy to be against terror - be it state-sponsored or Lone Wolf - is there any law or constitutional principle that the Court can justly rely upon to disagree with, and block, President (Donald) Trump’s extradition decision.”
Batra added that he fully expects “that in calmer times CJ Roberts would deny Rana the right to stay in America and avoid facing justice in India."
"During current times, with so many district judges blocking President Trump’s domestic agenda changes...the Supreme Court will enjoy denying Rana more easily.”
“After President Trump and PM (Narendra) Modi met in the Oval, President Trump announced in the press conference that Rana will be extradited to India, to face his victims and his justice. The current posture is akin to a fish out of water, but moving around a lot to try to get back into American waters,” Batra said.
Rana is seeking a stay of his extradition and surrender to India pending litigation (including exhaustion of all appeals) on the merits of a petition he filed on February 13.
In that petition, Rana argued that his extradition to India violates United States law and the United Nations Convention Against Torture "because there are substantial grounds for believing that, if extradited to India, 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.
It cited medical records from July 2024 that confirm Rana has multiple “acute and life-threatening diagnoses”, including multiple documented heart attacks, Parkinson’s disease with cognitive decline, a mass suggestive of bladder cancer, stage 3 chronic kidney disease, and a history of chronic asthma, and multiple COVID-19 infections.
“Accordingly, petitioner certainly has raised a credible, if not compelling, factual case that there are indeed substantial grounds for believing he would be in danger of torture if surrendered to Indian authorities.
“Further, because of his Muslim religion, his Pakistani origin, his status as a former member of the Pakistani Army, the relation of the putative charges to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and his chronic health conditions he is even more likely to be tortured than otherwise would be the case, and that torture is very likely to kill him in short order.”
The US Supreme Court denied Rana’s petition for writ of certiorari relating to his original habeas petition on January 21, 2025.
The application notes that on that same day, newly-confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio had met with External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar.
When Prime Minister 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 authorize” 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 own findings regarding treatment of prisoners, it is very likely “Rana will not survive long enough to be tried in India.
“The issues raised by petitioner merit full and careful consideration, and the stakes are enormous for him. The very least the US courts owe the petitioner is a full chance to litigate these issues, including exercising their appellate rights, before he is consigned to the fate that awaits him at the hands of the Indian government,” the application said.
It added that if a stay is not entered, there will be no review at all, and the US courts will lose jurisdiction, and “petitioner will soon be dead. Therefore, we respectfully request that this Court enter an Order staying the extradition and surrender of petitioner pending a full and considered hearing on petitioner’s claims by the district court, circuit court, and, if necessary, a writ of certiorari to and further proceedings before this Court.”
US President Trump, during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi in the White House last month announced that Rana’s extradition to India has been approved.
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.
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KSCA expresses disappointment over missing IPL playoffs, says it was ready to host matches in B’luru
Bengaluru: The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has issued a clarification stating that it was fully prepared to host the IPL playoffs and final matches in Bengaluru but the fixtures were allotted to other venues.
In a media note, KSCA said it was disappointed with the decision. The association stated that its president, former India cricketer Venkatesh Prasad, had been in touch with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and had formally conveyed the association’s readiness and interest in hosting the matches at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
KSCA said the IPL matches held in Bengaluru this season were appreciated for smooth conduct, crowd management and overall experience for spectators. It said this reflected its ability to handle high-profile matches.
The association also stated that it had sent a detailed communication to the BCCI explaining its preparedness and the operational arrangements followed during the current IPL season. According to KSCA, these systems have been in place since the start of the Indian Premier League in 2008 and were followed consistently, including during previous playoff matches hosted in Bengaluru.
The clarification added that the communication sent to the BCCI was only meant to provide factual and operational details and to bring clarity on logistical and stakeholder-related requirements involved in hosting such matches.
KSCA said that although it had shown willingness and preparedness, the BCCI has decided to allocate the playoff matches to other venues. It added that the reasons for this decision have not been formally shared with the association, but it respects the authority of the board in taking such decisions.
The association further said it remains ready to host matches of national and international importance and will continue to cooperate with the BCCI, franchises, government authorities and other stakeholders for conducting cricket events.
The statement was issued by KSCA official spokesperson Vinay Mruthyunjaya, who also thanked the media and cricket fans for their continued support.
