The US Supreme Court has upheld the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a convict in the Mumbai terror attacks case, to India. This decision marks the rejection of Rana's review petition, his final legal recourse to avoid extradition.

India has been seeking the extradition of Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, for his alleged involvement in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Rana’s legal options in the US had already been exhausted after losing appeals in multiple federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco, reported PTI.

On November 13, Rana filed a ''petition for a writ of certiorari'' with the US Supreme Court, which the court denied on January 21, stating simply, ''Petition DENIED.'' This ruling came a day after Donald Trump assumed office as the US President. Rana, aged 64, is currently held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.

Earlier, the US government, through Solicitor General Elizabeth B Prelogar, had recommended the Supreme Court reject the petition. In a filing submitted on December 16, Prelogar asserted that Rana was not entitled to relief from extradition in this case.

In his petition, Rana contended that he had been tried and acquitted in a federal court in Chicago for charges linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks. He argued that India was now seeking to extradite him for charges related to the same incidents.

However, Prelogar disagreed with this claim, stating, ''The government does not concede that all of the conduct on which India seeks extradition was covered by the government’s prosecution in this case.''

She highlighted specific charges brought by India, such as forgery, which involved actions not included in the US prosecution. For instance, she noted, ''India’s forgery charges are based in part on conduct that was not charged in the United States: petitioner’s use of false information in an application to formally open a branch office of the Immigration Law Center submitted to the Reserve Bank of India.''

Prelogar further clarified, ''It is not clear that the jury’s verdict in this case— which involves conspiracy charges and was somewhat difficult to parse — means that he has been ‘convicted or acquitted’ on all of the specific conduct that India has charged.''

Rana is known to have ties with David Coleman Headley, a Pakistani-American terrorist and one of the key conspirators behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. The attacks, which lasted over 60 hours, were carried out by 10 Pakistani terrorists and claimed the lives of 166 people, including six Americans. The terrorists targeted several prominent and strategic locations across Mumbai, leaving a trail of devastation.