Court lets Rana talk to kin on getting new counsel

NEW DELHI: Delhi's Patiala House court Thursday allowed 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks plotter Tahawwur Rana to have a phone conversation with his family for the limited purpose of discussing the engagement of a new legal aid counsel.At present, advocate Piyush Sachdeva from Delhi Legal Services Authority is Rana's legal counsel. The Pakistan-born Canadian moved court after Tihar Jail authorities rejected his application to talk to his family over the phone.Rana is allegedly a close aide of David Coleman Headley, alias Daood Gilani, a US citizen and the main conspirator in the attacks that killed 166.On July 15, the court allowed Rana's plea seeking directions to jail authorities to provide him with a bed and a mattress. Authorities had opposed the plea, reasoning that inmates aged 65 or older could be given a bed under the jail manual. Rana is 64. On July 9, after NIA filed a supplementary chargesheet, the court extended Rana's judicial custody until Aug 13. Rana was brought to India after the US Supreme Court dismissed his review plea against extradition on April 4.

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