Bangladesh Seeks Sheikh Hasina's Extradition: How the India-Bangladesh Treaty and India's Extradition Law Work
Bangladesh's Law Minister said on 8 November 2026 that Dhaka has asked India to extradite (formally hand over) former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina under the bilateral extradition treaty.
He said the request is handled by Bangladesh's Ministry of Home Affairs, because that ministry is the treaty's "Central Authority" (the official contact office) on the Bangladesh side.
India has earlier confirmed that it received Bangladesh's extradition requests. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said the requests are being examined under its established processes. India has not announced any decision.
Sheikh Hasina has been in India since 5 August 2024, when she left Bangladesh after a mass uprising ended her 15-year rule.
In November 2025, Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal convicted her in absentia (without her being present) of crimes against humanity linked to the July-August 2024 uprising. It gave her a death sentence on one charge and life imprisonment on another.
A new elected government took office in Bangladesh after parliamentary elections in February 2026. The extradition request continues under it.
India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty (2013, amended 2016)
The India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty is an agreement between the two neighbours to hand over to each other people who are wanted for serious crimes. If a person accused or convicted of a crime in one country runs away to the other, the treaty sets the rules for sending that person back. It was signed in Dhaka on 28 January 2013, came into force in October 2013, and was amended in July 2016 to make requests easier.
Bangladesh says it has sent its request for Sheikh Hasina under this treaty, and its Home Ministry is handling it as the treaty's Central Authority. India's decision will turn on the treaty's tests: whether the case falls under the political offence exception (Article 6), and whether it would be unjust or oppressive or not made in good faith (Article 8), alongside India's own domestic extradition law.
Extradition Act, 1962: India's Law on Handing Over Fugitives
The Extradition Act, 1962 is the Indian law that sets out how India hands over a wanted person to another country, and how India asks other countries to send wanted persons back. A treaty is a promise between two countries; this Act is the machinery inside India that makes that promise work. It tells us who receives a request, which court checks it, and when India must say no.
Bangladesh's request for Sheikh Hasina will be processed in India under this Act together with the bilateral treaty. The Act gives the Central Government the final word (Section 8), lets it refuse where an offence is political (Section 31) or where a request is not in good faith (Section 29), so India's examination of the request runs through these provisions.
- Sheikh Hasina left Bangladesh for India on 5 August 2024
- International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) convicted her in absentia in November 2025: death sentence on one charge, life imprisonment on another
- India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty: signed 28 January 2013 (Dhaka), in force October 2013, amended 28 July 2016
- Treaty Central Authorities: MEA (India), Ministry of Home Affairs (Bangladesh)
- Treaty Article 6: political offence exception; Article 8: good faith and "unjust or oppressive" grounds
- Extradition Act, 1962: in force 5 January 1963; amended 1993
- India has extradition treaties with 48 countries and arrangements with 12 (December 2024)
- India-Bangladesh land border: about 4,096 km