CHANDIGARH: Ahead of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to India on February 26, the Canadian government has reportedly begun proceedings to revoke the citizenship of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Hussain Rana. Rana, a Pakistan-born businessman, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in April last year after being extradited from the United States to India.
According to documents obtained by Global News, immigration officials have informed Rana that they intend to strip him of the Canadian citizenship he acquired in 2001. The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) told him that his citizenship is being revoked not for terrorism charges, but because he allegedly lied on his citizenship application.
The report said IRCC accused Rana of giving false information about his residency in Canada while applying for citizenship in 2000. The 64-year-old had immigrated to Canada in 1997.
Rana claimed that he lived in Ottawa and Toronto for four years, with only a six-day absence from the country. However, an investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found that he had spent most of that period in Chicago. Investigators said he owned several properties and businesses there, including an immigration firm and a grocery store. The revocation notice described the case as involving “serious and deliberate deception,” stating that his actions led officials to wrongly grant him citizenship.
A letter by IRCC to Rana dated May 31, 2024 read, “Yours is a case in which it appears that you misrepresented your residence in Canada during the application process for citizenship by deliberately failing to declare your absences from Canada.’’
The matter has now been referred to the Federal Court of Canada, which will decide whether his citizenship was obtained through fraud or false representation. Rana’s Toronto-based immigration lawyer has appealed against the move, arguing that it is unfair and violates his rights.
If the Federal Court upholds the revocation, Rana would still remain a permanent resident of Canada and could reapply for citizenship after 10 years.
Last week, a related hearing was held in the Federal Court where government lawyers sought permission to withhold sensitive national security information.
An IRCC spokesperson told Global News that cancelling citizenship in cases of misrepresentation is "an important tool for maintaining the integrity of Canadian citizenship" and added that the government "does not take the revocation of citizenship lightly" and that the Federal Court ensures the process is fair.
Rana, who is considered a key associate of David Coleman Headley, another accused in the Mumbai attacks case, was extradited to India after a long legal battle in the United States. “The District Court for the Central District of California had ordered his extradition on May 16, 2023. Rana then filed multiple litigations in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, all of which were rejected. He subsequently filed a petition for a writ of certiorari, two habeas petitions, and an emergency application before the US Supreme Court, which were also denied. The extradition proceedings were initiated between the two countries after India eventually secured a surrender warrant for the wanted terrorist from the US government,” read the statement issued by the NIA after his arrest.