Can Bangladesh extradite Sheikh Hasina under the treaty with India? | Explained
Bangladesh has pressed India to extradite former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina under the 2013 India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty, after Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal sentenced her to death in absentia (November 2025) on charges of crimes against humanity linked to the 2024 student protests
The treaty's Article 6 allows extradition to be refused if the alleged offence is "of a political character"
The treaty's Article 8 allows either country to refuse extradition where the request is judged not to have been made "in good faith" or "in the interest of justice," or where surrender would be "unjust or oppressive"
The decision on whether to act on the request rests with the Indian government and, if challenged, the Indian judiciary
The Extradition Act, 1962 — India's Domestic Extradition Framework
Extradition from India is governed by the Extradition Act, 1962, which provides the domestic procedure through which India surrenders (or seeks the surrender of) a fugitive to/from a foreign state, whether or not a bilateral treaty exists. Where a treaty exists, its terms govern the "extradition offence"; where none exists, the Act allows extradition for offences punishable by at least one year of imprisonment.
Key Details
- Enacted 1962; consolidates and updates earlier extradition law
- Sections 34A–34C provide for extradition even without a treaty, on the basis of reciprocity, including provisional arrest for up to 60 days under Section 34B pending formal papers
- Dual criminality is a general safeguard in Indian extradition practice — the act must be an offence in both the requesting and requested state
- Final surrender requires a magisterial inquiry and a formal Government of India order
Even if Bangladesh formally invokes the 2013 treaty, any extradition of Hasina would still have to pass through the Extradition Act, 1962 process, including judicial inquiry, giving India additional institutional checkpoints beyond the treaty text.
India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty, 2013 (amended 2016)
Signed on 28 January 2013 and amended in July 2016, this is the principal bilateral treaty governing extradition between India and Bangladesh, originally negotiated to strengthen bilateral cooperation against terrorism and cross-border crime.
Key Details
- Article 6(1) — the "political offence exception" — extradition may be refused if the offence is of a political character, but this exception explicitly does not cover offences such as murder, manslaughter, terrorism-related offences, kidnapping, or offences involving explosives/firearms causing serious bodily harm
- Article 8 — allows refusal where the request is not made in good faith or in the interest of justice, or where surrender would be unjust or oppressive given the nature of the case
- The 2016 amendment eased the evidentiary standard for extradition requests between the two countries
- Final decision to extradite rests with the executive (Government of India), subject to judicial review
Because the crimes-against-humanity charges against Hasina do not squarely fall within the categories excluded from the political-offence exception, India retains room under Articles 6 and 8 to decline the request — this is the crux of the "explainer" the article is built around.
Political Offence Exception — A Standard Feature of Extradition Law
The political offence exception is a globally recognised principle in extradition law and treaties, under which a state may refuse to extradite a person for an offence considered political in nature (e.g., dissent, rebellion), reflecting the idea that the requested state should not become an instrument of political persecution.
Key Details
- Distinguished from the "attentat clause," under which acts of violence against a head of state are excluded from the political offence exception even if politically motivated
- Most modern extradition treaties, including India's, carve out serious violent crimes (murder, terrorism, crimes against humanity in some treaties) from the exception
- India's treaty practice generally follows this dual structure: broad political offence protection, narrowed by specific carve-outs
The debate around Hasina's case turns precisely on whether crimes against humanity charges fall inside or outside this exception — a distinction UPSC could test as a general principle of extradition law.
- India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty signed: 28 January 2013; amended: July 2016
- Hasina sentenced to death in absentia by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal: 17 November 2025
- Conviction grounds: incitement, ordering killings, and failure to prevent atrocities during the 2024 student protests
- Extradition Act, 1962 provisional arrest window (non-treaty cases): up to 60 days under Section 34B
- Governing domestic law for extradition proceedings in India: Extradition Act, 1962