(Image source from: Hwnews.in)

The US Supreme Court has approved the extradition of Mumbai attack convict Tahawwur Rana to India, rejecting his appeal against the decision. India wants to bring Rana, a Canadian of Pakistani origin, to face charges related to the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. This was Rana's final legal attempt to avoid extradition to India. He had previously lost in several federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the North Circuit in San Francisco. Rana filed a request for the Supreme Court to review his case, but it was denied on January 21, the day after Donald Trump became the US President. Rana, 64, is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. The US government had argued that Rana should not be granted relief from extradition to India.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Rana had been tried and acquitted in federal court in Chicago on charges related to the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack. However, the U.S. government disagreed, stating that not all of the conduct for which India seeks extradition was covered in the U.S. prosecution. For example, India's forgery charges are based on actions that were not charged in the U.S. case. The government also said it is unclear whether the jury's verdict in the U.S. case, which involved conspiracy charges, means Rana has been convicted or acquitted of all the specific conduct that India has charged. The perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attacks killed 166 people, including 6 Americans, in a more than 60-hour assault where 10 Pakistani terrorists targeted and killed people at significant and essential sites in Mumbai.