Sheikh Hasina’s Extradition Plans and India’s Bilateral Extradition Treaty

• Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) plans to seek the extradition of ousted leader Sheikh Hasina from India.
• Hasina sought refuge in India in August after a mass uprising led to her ouster.
• Since her departure, numerous criminal cases have been lodged against her and her aides, including murder, torture, abduction, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
• The ICT was established in 2010 to investigate crimes committed during the 1971 independence war from Pakistan.
• The International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973 allows Bangladeshi courts to proceed with criminal trials even in Hasina’s absence.
• India and Bangladesh signed an extradition treaty in 2013 to address insurgency and terrorism along their shared borders.
• The treaty mandates the extradition of individuals charged with or convicted of crimes that warrant a minimum sentence of one year’s imprisonment.
• The 2016 amendment to the treaty substantially lowered the threshold for extradition by removing the requirement to furnish concrete evidence against the offender.
• Article 6 of the treaty stipulates that extradition may be refused if the offence is of a “political nature”.
• India could potentially refuse extradition on the grounds that the charges against Hasina have not been levelled in good faith and there is a possibility of her being subjected to political persecution or an unfair trial upon her return to Bangladesh.
• The final decision on Hasina’s extradition will hinge more on diplomatic negotiations and political considerations.
• India’s largest trade partner in South Asia, Bangladesh, is India’s largest trade partner in South Asia.