The US Supreme Court will next month consider a renewed emergency application from Tahawwur Rana, the 64-year-old accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, seeking to block his extradition to India.
Rana, currently held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, initially filed an emergency request on February 27, 2025, with Associate Justice Elena Kagan. After Kagan denied his application earlier this month, his legal team resubmitted the request directly to Chief Justice John Roberts. An order on the Supreme Court’s website states that the renewed application has been “distributed for Conference” on April 4, 2025 and is under review by the Court.
Linked to Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley—one of the main conspirators in the Mumbai attacks—Rana was convicted in the US on charges including conspiracy to support a terrorist plot in Denmark and providing aid to Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based group behind the attacks. His counsel argues that extradition to India would put him at significant risk of torture, citing his identity as a Muslim of Pakistani origin, his previous role in the Pakistani Army, and his serious health conditions. Medical records from July 2024 reveal that he suffers from multiple life-threatening ailments, such as heart attacks, Parkinson’s disease with cognitive decline, a potential bladder cancer mass, stage 3 chronic kidney disease, chronic asthma, and a history of repeated COVID-19 infections.
The legal team claims that, if extradited, Rana faces not only the risk of torture under Indian detention conditions but also a scenario where he might not survive long enough to stand trial. They highlight that his case deserves a full judicial review before he is transferred to India—a process complicated by recent actions by the State Department. Following meetings between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar, as well as a joint press conference by US President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Modi, the extradition decision was reaffirmed. Rana’s counsel has, however, criticized the government for withholding the administrative record and any assurances regarding his treatment in India.
The Supreme Court’s decision will involve a full bench that includes Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr., Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
The 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, executed by 10 Pakistani terrorists over a 60-hour siege, claimed the lives of 166 people, including six Americans, and remain one of the most devastating acts of terrorism in recent history.
(With PTI Inputs)