India and Bangladesh signed an extradition treaty in 2013, in reference to many Indian and Bangladeshi fugitives operating out of the other country. But the mere existence of a treaty does not mean that New Delhi should do it Hand over to Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka.
According to the treaty, extradition can be refused if the offense is of a “political nature”, although the list of offenses that cannot be considered “political” is rather long. Some of the crimes for which Hasina has been charged, including murder, enforced disappearance and torture, are excluded from the definition of political crimes in the treaty.
The treaty was amended in 2016 to simplify and expedite the extradition process.
Amendments to Article 10(3) of the Treaty removed the requirement for the requesting country to provide evidence of the crimes committed.
Now, only an arrest warrant issued by a competent court in that country is required for the extradition process – there are several such warrants against Hasina in Bangladesh.
That said, the treaty still provides other grounds for denying extradition requests. Article 8 lists several grounds for denial, including military crimes not charged “in good faith in the interests of justice” or “crimes under the general criminal law”.
India, therefore, has the option of refusing Hasina’s extradition because the charges against her are “not in good faith in the interests of justice”, although this could further strain relations between New Delhi and Dhaka.
At the end of the day, regardless of the nuances of the extradition treaty, the decision to accept Dhaka’s extradition request will be political.
“Do we have a significant interest in handing over Hasina to Bangladesh? They don’t. The legality of the treaty doesn’t matter,” a former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) official who dealt closely with Bangladesh earlier told The Indian Express.
“There are many examples of healthy relations between the two countries even when extradition requests are pending,” said a former diplomat who served in the region.
Incidentally, the pact with Bangladesh allowed India to successfully extradite top United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) leader Anup Chetia in 2015.
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