The story up to now: Bangladesh on Sunday (August 16, 2026) urged India to create a “propitious setting” for enabling Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s go to to India by extraditing deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Ms. Hasina, who has been based mostly in India since fleeing Dhaka on August 5, 2024, addressed a press convention on the International Correspondents’ Membership in Delhi on August 5, 2026, the place, describing the situation of Bangladesh, she mentioned, “Worry has entered houses, workplaces and campuses.” The press convention drew a fast response from Bangladesh’s Ministry of International Affairs, which described Ms. Hasina as a “convicted genocider” and accused her of the “ugly killing of harmless civilians, together with minor youngsters” through the July-August 2024 rebellion in Bangladesh.
On Sunday, A.Ok.M. Shahidul Karim, official spokesperson of Bangladesh’s Ministry of International Affairs, additionally demanded that India extradite the suspected killers of Osman Hadi, who died in Singapore final December after being shot in Dhaka by unidentified assassins who’re reported to have escaped to India.
Is it attainable for India to extradite Sheikh Hasina by following the extradition treaty of 2013?
In precept, India can extradite an individual who is needed by Bangladesh for committing offences, because the extradition treaty mentions that folks needed by either side might be extradited by means of this “reciprocal” settlement. Nonetheless, beneath Article 6 of the treaty, titled “Political Offence Exception”, people concerned in offences of a political nature might be an exception within the extradition course of. This provision says: “Extradition could also be refused if the offence of which it’s requested is an offence of a political character.”
Article 6 additional says that offences reminiscent of “homicide”, “kidnapping”, and “manslaughter” won’t be thought-about offences of a political sort. The issue, nonetheless, is that the definition of “political offence” will not be clear within the extradition treaty which will present area for political interpretation of the offence to India beneath the present circumstances, as many instances had been filed towards Ms. Hasina in 2024 with out adequate proof, and that the Worldwide Crimes Tribunal (ICT) had query marks over the way in which it carried out the hearings and gave the decision in November 2025 as doubts had been raised in regards to the integrity of the members of the ICT.
What sort of crimes was Ms. Hasina accused of by Bangladesh?
The interim authorities of Bangladesh that got here to energy in August 2024 accused Ms. Hasina of being chargeable for the police crackdown that led to the killing of a minimum of 800 people.
In line with a U.N. report, the variety of folks killed within the crackdown by the police and the safety forces is round 1,400. The Worldwide Crimes Tribunal, in a quick trial, held Ms. Hasina responsible of crimes towards humanity and sentenced her to dying on November 17, 2025. The House Minister of the Awami League authorities, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, was additionally sentenced to dying.
Subsequently, Bangladesh despatched a diplomatic observe to India in search of the extradition of Ms. Hasina. India, nonetheless, shunned conveying something definitive, with the Ministry of Exterior Affairs saying, “India has famous the decision introduced by the ‘Worldwide Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh’ regarding former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. As a detailed neighbour, India stays dedicated to the very best pursuits of the folks of Bangladesh, together with in peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in that nation. We’ll at all times interact constructively with all stakeholders to that finish.”
The United Nations, whereas stressing the necessity for justice in Bangladesh, has opposed the dying penalty beneath all circumstances.
Is the ICT verdict an appropriate floor for extradition?
Article 8 of the treaty clearly states that both nation can reject an extradition request in instances through which the accusations haven’t been made in “good religion” or “within the curiosity of justice”. This level attracts consideration to the decision of the ICT, which has been described by the Awami League, Sheikh Hasina’s political celebration, as “predetermined”.
There have been allegations that the ICT was reconstituted through the interim authorities’s tenure and that its members had been sympathetic to Jamaat-e-Islami. Tajul Islam, the barrister who fought many authorized instances for Jamaat-e-Islami, was appointed the chief prosecutor of the ICT by the interim authorities led by Mohammed Yunus.
Ms. Hasina, in a press release, rejected the decision, blaming the interim authorities for the prosecution. She sought a trial earlier than a world courtroom.
Commentators have identified that Bangladesh’s Worldwide Crimes (Tribunal) Act, 1973 requires amendments so as to guarantee a good trial in such instances.
Do India and Bangladesh use extradition treaty at hand over offenders?
India and Bangladesh signed the extradition treaty in Dhaka on January 28, 2013, and it got here into impact on October 23 that yr. The treaty was signed because it was felt that there was a must construction the prison and judicial issues between the 2 international locations, given the massive variety of offenders that either side encounter. Bangladesh shares its longest land boundary with India (4,096 km).
A number of high-profile criminals and suspects have been apprehended and handed over beneath the treaty.
One such case was that of Noor Nabi Maxon in 2022. He was accused of 11 homicide instances and was apprehended in West Bengal, the place he had been staying with an assumed id. In line with diplomatic sources, Dhaka and New Delhi have been utilizing the extradition treaty to facilitate the handover of smaller offenders and criminals. The treaty is the “solely functioning instrument” by means of which extradition of needed people is feasible bilaterally between the 2 international locations.
That aside, the 2 international locations are additionally members of the BIMSTEC Conference on Mutual Authorized Help in Felony Issues: (BIMSTEC MLAT), beneath which India and Bangladesh can collaborate with 5 different member international locations of the BIMSTEC grouping, which has been energetic since March 2022. Nonetheless, the 2013 bilateral extradition treaty is the one instrument that permits India and Bangladesh to trade fugitives and terror suspects.
Can politically delicate extradition instances go forward as per the treaty?
Whereas the extradition of fugitives can, in precept, happen between India and Bangladesh, in actuality, nonetheless, heat in ties has a task to play whereas dealing with politically delicate instances.
Officers, talking off the file, have been indicating that the handover of Ms. Hasina might not be as straightforward because it seems, as there are critical potentialities of regulation and order disruption if she is returned instantly. That aside, the extradition treaty that was sealed at a time when bilateral relations had been at a highpoint with the Land Boundary Settlement and the Maritime Boundary Dispute — each nearing settlement — reveals that political sentiment in India-Bangladesh relations has a task to play in creating an enabling setting.
Why has Bangladesh added the suspected killers of Osman Hadi to the newest extradition request?
Bangladesh has been demanding the extradition of the suspected killers of Osman Hadi, who Dhaka claims had been apprehended by the safety forces in West Bengal after they fled Bangladesh following the taking pictures.
Whereas this was talked about earlier, the case has now been talked about alongside Bangladesh’s demand for Ms. Hasina’s extradition and its name for an “enabling setting” for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s proposed go to to India.
A radical scholar chief, Hadi was shot in Dhaka in December 2025 and died in Singapore on December 18. His dying led to main law-and-order issues in Bangladesh. The case is being intently adopted by Islamists who’ve appreciable road energy in Bangladesh at current. The Jamaat-e-Islami, which has 67 seats in Bangladesh Parliament, has additionally been pushing for justice for Hadi. So, there’s a home political angle to the case as effectively that makes it vital for the BNP authorities.
Printed – August 18, 2026 12:29 pm IST
