Washington:
A US court has postponed the in-particular person extradition hearing of Pakistani-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, who is sought for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, from April 22 to June 24.
US District Court Judge in Los Angeles Jacqueline Chooljian in her order on Monday moved the in-particular person extradition hearing of 59-year-old Rana to India to June 24.
The court’s order came immediately after a conference among Rana’s lawyers and these representing the US Government. During the conference, the two sides agreed to hold the in-particular person hearing of Rana on June 24 at 1.30 pm regional Los Angeles time.
Meanwhile, Rana’s attorneys in extra motion opposed his extradition to India.
“The government has not identified a single case since the founding of this country in which a person acquitted by an American jury has been extradited to a foreign country for trial on charges resting on the same conduct,” it mentioned in its 17-web page new submission on Monday.
The US Government has time till April 12 to submit its response, if any. The US government so far has supported the extradition of Rana to India.
Rana’s lawyer argued that the US government’s position boils down to this: the term “offense” in the India-US Extradition Treaty indicates what ever the government requires it to imply.
In Article 2, the dual criminality provision, exactly where the government requires the term to have a broad which means, it refers to underlying conduct. In Article 6, it indicates “conduct” when required to accomplish a plea deal with Headley, and it indicates “elements” when required to extradite Rana.
“The Court should reject this “heads the government wins, tails Rana loses” approach. Applying ordinary tools of interpretation, it should hold that the term “offense” in Article 6 refers to the underlying conduct, and it should deny extradition,” it argued.
Rana, a childhood pal of David Coleman Headley, was re-arrested on June 10 in Los Angeles on an extradition request by India for his involvement in the Mumbai terror attack in which 166 folks, which includes six Americans, have been killed. He has been declared a fugitive by India.
Pakistani-American Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Headley was involved in plotting the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. He was produced an approver in the case, and is at present serving a 35-year prison term in the US for his function in the attack.
As per the India-US Extradition Treaty, the Indian government has requested the formal extradition of Rana, and the United States has initiated this extradition proceeding. The US Government has argued that Rana meets all the criteria warranting certification of his extradition to India.
These are: the court has each private and topic matter jurisdiction, there is an extradition treaty among the United States and India that is in complete force and impact, and the crimes for which Rana”s extradition is sought are covered by the terms of the treaty.
In his earlier court submission on February 4, Rana’s lawyer had argued that Rana’s extradition is barred beneath Article 6 of the United States-India extradition treaty due to the fact he had previously been acquitted of the offences for which his extradition is sought, and beneath Article 9 of the treaty due to the fact the government has not established probable trigger to think that Rana committed the alleged offences.