Court to hear Tahawwur Rana's 26/11 plea for family contact on 9 June

Tahawwur Rana, accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case and extradited from the US, seeks court approval to communicate with family while in judicial custody

A Delhi court is scheduled to hear on June 9 a plea filed by Tahawwur Hussain Rana, accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case, seeking permission to communicate with his family members.

 

Rana, a 64-year-old Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently in judicial custody following his extradition from the United States. He is alleged to have conspired with David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen and key conspirator in the attacks, along with operatives of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami, and other Pakistan-based individuals.

 

Rana was brought to India after the US Supreme Court on April 4 dismissed his plea challenging the extradition.

 

 

Court records NIA response, awaits jail reply 

On Wednesday, Special Judge Chander Jit Singh took on record the reply submitted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and directed the jail authorities to file their response. The court also permitted Tihar Jail officials to respond based on the NIA’s submission.

 

Earlier, on May 28, the same judge had directed the jail authorities to submit a status report in response to Rana’s plea by June 4. 

 

Details of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks 

The 26/11 attacks were carried out by 10 armed men from Pakistan who entered Mumbai via the sea route on November 26, 2008. The attackers targeted several locations, including a railway station, two hotels, and a Jewish Chabad house, resulting in 166 deaths over a nearly 60-hour-long siege.

 

Only one of the attackers, Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive. He was executed on November 21, 2012, after exhausting all legal remedies.

 

Legal representation and court proceedings 

Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan and Special Public Prosecutor Narender Mann are representing the NIA in the case.

 

On May 28, the judge had inquired whether Rana had legal representation. Upon being informed that he did not, the court ordered that a lawyer be appointed through the Delhi Legal Services Authority. Advocate Piyush Sachdeva was subsequently assigned to represent him.