Tahawwur Rana in India: Dayan Krishnan, lawyer who led extradition battle, to head NIA’s 26/11 terror attack case

26/11 Mumbai attack plotter Tahawwur Rana (File Image)

NEW DELHI: Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, who spearheaded India’s case for 26/11 Mumbai attack plotter Tahawwur Rana’s extradition in the United States Supreme Court, will now lead the National Investigation Agency‘s (NIA) prosecution in Delhi.
Rana, who labored intently with 26/11 major plotter David Coleman Headley (also called Daood Gilani), a US citizen, is reportedly en-route to India after the US Supreme Court rejected his evaluation petition in opposition to extradition on April 4.
Krishnan, concerned with the extradition course of since 2010, will work alongside Special Prosecutor Narender Mann, an skilled felony lawyer who beforehand represented the Central Bureau of Investigation on the Delhi High Court.
Additional authorized representatives embody advocates Sanjeevi Sheshadri and Sridhar Kale, together with NIA counsel, in accordance to sources.
A big improvement occurred in May 2023, with Rana’s trial having commenced in 2018.
Rana had organized passports for fellow jihadi, Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley, aka Dawood Gilani, to journey to India to choose targets for the terror attack that was being hatched by Lashkar in collaboration with ISI, Pakistan’s spy company. Rana gloated over the deaths in Mumbai on Nov 26, 2008 and mentioned that the jihadis accountable for it ought to be given Pakistan’s highest posthumous navy honours, in accordance to NIA.
So far solely Ajmal Kasab, the only real LeT terrorist concerned in 26/11 rampage who was nabbed alive, had been prosecuted.
“The most important decision of his extradition came on May 16, 2023, being the first judgment by the Magistrate Judge, US District Court of Central District of California,” mentioned a supply shut to the extradition proceedings.
The Magistrate Court endorsed Krishnan’s place whereas approving the extradition, confirming that Rana’s scenario didn’t represent double jeopardy.
The proceedings featured intense authorized debates between Krishnan and extradition specialist Paul Garlick QC, who defended Rana.
While Garlick maintained it was double jeopardy, Krishnan contended that the crime’s components, not the accused’s behaviour, decided the circumstances.
Double jeopardy refers to punishing somebody twice for a similar crime.
The courtroom accepted the arguments introduced by Krishnan, who represented India’s authorities alongside the US division of justice.
Another essential victory got here when a US District Judge dismissed Rana’s attraction on August 10, 2023.
After this setback, Rana approached the US Court of Appeals ninth Circuit, however confronted rejection on August 15, 2024, in accordance to the supply.
Rana, aged 64 and a Canadian citizen born in Pakistan, then sought assist from the US Supreme Court, which denied aid on January 21, 2025.
Finally, on April 4, the US Supreme Court rejected Rana’s evaluation petition, his final try to keep away from extradition, the supply famous.
On November 26, 2008, ten Pakistani terrorists launched coordinated assaults in Mumbai’s CST, two luxurious accommodations and a Jewish centre, after coming into India’s monetary hub by way of the Arabian Sea. The three-day siege resulted in 166 deaths.