Under What Conditions Could India Return Sheikh Hasina? What the Extradition Treaty Says

The question of bringing back deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is staying in India, has returned to discussion. Fresh discussion has begun over which provisions of the extradition treaty signed between Bangladesh and India offer a route to her return, and in what circumstances India could reject an extradition request.

The issue came into discussion after news emerged that Sheikh Hasina's legal advisers had applied to the Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi seeking information relating to her passport and national identity card.

Bangladesh has been demanding Sheikh Hasina's return since the fall of the Awami League government in August 2024. A formal extradition request was also sent to India during the interim government. India, however, has continued to describe the matter as linked to a legal process.

Most recently, on Tuesday, India's foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Sheikh Hasina's extradition is a legal and judicial matter, and that action would be taken in accordance with the law.

According to Sreeradha Dutta, a professor of international relations at India's OP Jindal Global University, the existing extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India contains specific provisions on when a person can be handed over and when a request can be rejected.

Extradition means the legal handover of an accused or convicted person staying in one country's territory to another country. The process is generally followed to bring a fugitive accused or convicted of a criminal offence before trial, or to enforce a sentence.

Bangladesh's home minister Salahuddin Ahmed recently outlined the legal process of extradition in a statement in the national parliament. He said an Interpol red notice or an arrest does not automatically complete an extradition. The requested country's central authority and courts review the extradition application, the type of offence, the arrest warrant, the evidence and other legal conditions under that country's law before deciding.

Bangladesh has the 1974 Prisoners Extradition Act for bringing back fugitive offenders, under which extradition treaties have been signed with various countries. Bangladesh has extradition treaties with India and Thailand. The India-Bangladesh extradition treaty was signed in January 2013.

Under this treaty, Anup Chetia was previously handed over from Bangladesh to India, and Nur Hossain, an accused in the Narayanganj seven-murder case, was handed over from India to Bangladesh. An important amendment was made to the treaty in 2016, relaxing the obligation on the requesting state to present detailed evidence in support of the charges when applying; a valid extradition request can be made by submitting the relevant court's arrest warrant.

Article Two of the treaty, published on India's foreign ministry website, sets out the definition and conditions of extraditable offences. Under the treaty, an act or conduct must be an offence under the laws of both countries and carry a minimum punishment of one year's imprisonment. An offence relating to tax or revenue can also come under extradition. A difference in the name or classification of the same offence in the two countries' laws is not a bar. Extradition also applies not only to committing an offence directly, but to attempt, aiding, abetting, incitement and participation as an accomplice.

Article Three explains offences made up of several acts: even if part of an offence was committed in the territory of the requested state, extradition may be granted subject to specified conditions.

Article Six of the treaty carries special importance in the discussion over Sheikh Hasina's extradition. It leaves room to reject extradition for offences of a political character: if the offence on which the request is based is considered political in character, the requested state may reject the extradition.

However, not every offence can be treated as political. The treaty lists several serious offences as exceptions to the political-offence category, including murder, manslaughter or culpable homicide, endangering life by using explosives, making or possessing explosives, attempting to harm life using firearms and ammunition, kidnapping, hostage-taking, unlawful detention and incitement to murder. Acts considered criminal offences under multilateral international treaties to which both countries are parties also fall within these exceptions.

Article Eight sets out various grounds for rejecting extradition. Under it, the requested state may decide not to hand a person over if the person can prove that, considering all the circumstances, extraditing them would be unjust or oppressive. A request may also be rejected if the nature of the charge or the seriousness of the offence is comparatively minor, if a long time has passed since the alleged offence or the person's unlawful flight, or if the request is considered not to have been made in the interests of justice.

The extradition question was also in discussion after the verdict in the crimes against humanity case against Sheikh Hasina last November. After that verdict, Sheikh Hasina criticised the International Crimes Tribunal's judicial process as biased and politically motivated. Bangladesh, on the other hand, has been citing the extradition treaty in seeking to bring her back to face trial.

According to Professor Sreeradha Dutta, even if Bangladesh requests extradition, the matter will ultimately depend on the treaty's conditions and the legal process. Speaking to BBC Bangla, she said the treaty itself sets out various conditions for granting or rejecting extradition, so how those provisions apply in Sheikh Hasina's case is the key consideration. In her assessment, there are questions over the likelihood of India granting the extradition. She also noted, however, that Sheikh Hasina herself has expressed an interest in returning home.

The existing treaty between Bangladesh and India contains provisions on the type of offence, exceptions for political offences and multiple legal grounds for rejecting extradition. As a result, bringing Sheikh Hasina back does not depend only on the two countries' diplomatic relations; the treaty's specific conditions, the nature of the charges against her and India's legal assessment are also important. No final conclusion can be reached by citing any single article of the treaty; a decision will only be possible after reviewing the extradition application, the relevant legal documents and all the treaty's relevant provisions.