Getting David Coleman Headley may remain a dream

India, perhaps, will never be able to lay its hands on David Coleman Headley, one of the main architects of 26/11 terror attack. Headley, who was responsible for doing recce and preparing extensive maps of places that were attacked by the Laskhar terrorists, entered into a plea bargain with the USA government.

The conditions that Headley put for plea bargain allows him to serve entire sentence in US and not to be extradited to any country. US court laws are very strict and cannot be bent because of pressure. Moreover, being a suspected double agent, US agencies would not like Headley to be handed over as he could spill their secrets to another country.

According to some experts, India can secure Headley's extradition and try him for his crimes in India once his sentence gets over. But that would mean a long wait of 35 years.

As Headley was already 54 years old at the time of being sentenced to 35 years of imprisonment, he would be nearing 90 at the time of his release in 2048 or would have died of old age. On both counts, he would be of little use to India.