The Centre on Thursday announced a team including Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor-General S V Raju to lead the National Investigation Agency’s prosecution against Tahawwur Rana, who has been extradited from the US nearly 16 years after his arrest for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Last week, New ’s Patiala House Court sent Rana to judicial custody in Tihar Jail till June 6 after he was produced before Special NIA Judge Chander Jit Singh a day before his NIA custody ended. The NIA collected Rana’s voice and handwriting samples before the judge.
In a gazette notification issued on Thursday, Abhijit Sinha, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, said, “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 15 of the NIA, read with sub-section (8) of section 18 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, the Central Government hereby appoints a team of Special Public Prosecutors headed by Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General of India with S V Raju, Additional Solicitor General along with Dayan Krishnan, Senior Advocate and Narender Mann, Advocate (already notified as Special Public Prosecutors) for conducting trial and other matters related to NIA case RC 04/2009/NIA/DLI on behalf of the National Investigation Agency before the NIA Special Courts at Delhi, Hon’ble High Court of Delhi and Hon’ble Supreme Court of India for a period of three years from the date of publication of this notification or till the completion of trial of the said case, whichever is earlier, on the terms and conditions as prescribed in Department of Legal Affairs’ notification dated October 1, 2015.”
Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan and Special Public Prosecutor Narender Mann now represent the NIA before the Patiala House Court. Legal aid counsel Piyush Sachdev and Lakshya Dheer appeared for Rana.
Rana, a close associate of 26/11 main conspirator David Coleman Headley, was brought to India on April 10 after his extradition from the US.
Last month, the Centre formed a legal team headed by Krishnan, who is also considered an expert in extradition law and had led India’s arguments for the extradition of Rana in a US court. He was also the special public prosecutor in the proceedings seeking the extradition of Headley, the Lashkar-e-Taiba scout for the 26/11 attacks, from the US. He was also part of a four-member team that visited Chicago to question Headley.
Rana is accused of aiding and abetting the reconnaissance carried out by Headley, with whom he went to school in Pakistan, for the 26/11 attacks and of participating in the conspiracy by providing crucial logistical support to the attackers.
Rana was arrested in Chicago in 2009, months after the terror attacks in November 2008, in which 166 people were killed.
Prior to this, Manral had extensively reported on city-based crime stories along with that he also covered the anti-corruption branch of the Delhi government for a decade. He is known for his knack for News and a detailed understanding of stories. He also worked with Mail Today as a senior correspondent for eleven months. He has also worked with The Pioneer for two years where he was exclusively covering crime beat.
During his initial days of the career he also worked with The Statesman newspaper in the national capital, where he was entrusted with beats like crime, education, and the Delhi Jal Board. A graduate in Mass Communication, Manral is always in search of stories that impact lives.
