The story so far: Bangladesh on Sunday (August 16, 2026) urged India to create a “propitiate environment” for enabling Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to India by extraditing deposed PM Sheikh Hasina. Ms. Hasina who has been based in India since fleeing Dhaka on August 5, 2024, addressed a press conference on August 5, 2026, at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Delhi during which she said, “Fear has returned to Bangladesh.” The press conference drew a quick response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh that described Ms. Hasina as a “convicted genocider” and accused her of “gruesome killing of the innocent civilians including minor children during July-August 2024” uprising in Bangladesh.

On Sunday (August 16, 2026), A.K.M. Shahidul Karim, Official Spokesperson, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka, further demanded that India should also extradite the suspected killers of Osman Hadi who was died in Singapore last December after being shot in Dhaka by unidentified assassins who are reported to have escaped to India after the incident.

Is it possible for India to extradite Sheikh Hasina by following the extradition treaty of 2013?

In principle, India can extradite a person who is wanted by Bangladesh of committing offences as the extradition treaty mentions that people wanted by both sides can be extradited through this “reciprocal” agreement. The document however clearly states under Article 6 that is titled “Political Offence Exception” that individuals involved in offences of a political nature can be an exception in extradition process. This provision says: “Extradition may be refused if the offence of which it is requested is an offence of a political character.”

Though political offenders can be an exception to this agreement, Article 6 further says that offences like ‘murder’, ‘kidnapping’, ‘manslaughter’ etc., will not be considered offences of a political kind. The problem however is that the definition of “political offence” is not clear in the extradition treaty that may provide space for political interpretation of the offence to India under the current circumstances, as many cases were filed were filed against Ms. Hasina in 2024 without sufficient evidence, and that the International Court of Justice had question marks over the way it conducted the hearings and gave the verdict in November 2025 as doubts were raised about the integrity of the members of the ICT.

What kind of crimes was Ms. Hasina accused of by Bangladesh?

The interim government of Bangladesh that came to power in August 2024 accused Ms. Hasina of being responsible for the police crackdown that led to the killing of at least 800 individuals.

According to a UN report, the number of the dead in the police and security forces crackdown is around 1,400. The War Crimes Tribunal in a fast trial held Ms. Hasina guilty of crimes against humanity and delivered a death penalty on her as well as the Home Minister of Awami League government Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on November 17, 2025.

Subsequently, Bangladesh sent a diplomatic note to India seeking extradition of Ms. Hasina. India, however, refrained from conveying anything definitive with the Ministry of Extern Affairs saying, “India has noted the verdict announced by the ‘International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh’ concerning former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. As a close neighbour, India remains committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including in peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in that country. We will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end.”

The United Nations in response, said that it opposes death penalty under all circumstances but urged for the need of justice in Bangladesh.

Is the ICT verdict an acceptable ground for extradition?

The treaty under Article 8 clearly says that either of the two countries can reject extradition in cases in which the accusations were not made in “good faith” or “in the interest of justice”. This point draws attention to the verdict of the ICT which has been described by the Awami League, Sheikh Hasina’s political party as “predetermined”.

There were allegations that the ICT was reconstituted during the interim government’s tenure and members were sympathetic to the Jamaat-e-Islami. Tajul Islam, the barrister who fought many legal cases for Jamaat-e-Islami was appointed the Chief Prosecutor of the ICT by the interim government led by Prof. Mohammed Yunus.

Ms. Hasina in a statement had rejected the verdict blaming the interim government for being the force behind it. She sought a trial in an international court. Commentators had also pointed out that in order to ensure fair trial, the International Crimes (Tribunal) Act 1973 also requires amendments in order to ensure fair trial in cases.

Does India and Bangladesh use extradition treaty to handover offenders?

Officials of India and Bangladesh signed the extradition treaty on January 28, 2013, in Dhaka and the treaty came into effect on October 23 the same year. The treaty was signed as it was felt that there was a need to structure the criminal and judicial matters between the two states given large number of offenders that both sides encounter given the fact Bangladesh has its longest land boundary with India.

Several high profile criminals and suspects have been apprehended and handed over using this extradition agreement.

Among the famous cases that were handled using this extradition treaty was the case of Noor Nabi Maxon of 2022 who was accused of eleven murder cases. Maxon was apprehended from West Bengal where he was staying with an assumed identity. According to diplomatic sources Dhaka and New Delhi have been using the extradition treaty to hand over smaller offenders and criminals to each other as the extradition treaty is the “only functioning instrument” through which extradition of wanted individuals is possible bilaterally between the two states.

That apart, the two countries are also members of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty of BIMSTEC (BIMSTEC MLAT) under which also India and Bangladesh can collaborate with five other member states of the BIMSTEC grouping which has been active since March 2022.

While the BIMSTEC MLAT allows the two countries to collaborate with other regional states nearby, the extradition treaty of 2013 is the only one that allows India and Bangladesh to exchange fugitives and terror suspects.

Can the extradition of politically sensitive cases go ahead as per the treaty?

While the extradition of fugitives can in principle take place between India and Bangladesh, in reality however, warmth in ties have a role to play while handling politically sensitive cases.

Officials off the record have been indicating that the handover of Ms. Hasina may not be as easy as it appears as there are serious possibilities of law and order disruption if she is returned suddenly. That apart, the extradition treaty that was sealed at a time when bilateral relation was at a highpoint with the Land Boundary Agreement and the Maritime Boundary Agreement — both nearing settlement, shows that political sentiment in India-Bangladesh relation have a role to play in creating an enabling environment.

Why has Bangladesh added the suspected killers of Osman Hadi to the latest extradition request?

Bangladesh has been demanding extradition of the suspected killers of Osman Hadi who they claim were apprehended by the security forces in West Bengal after they fled from Bangladesh.

While this was mentioned earlier, but the mention of the case in the same breath that also linked their extradition to the India visit of PM Tarique Rahman has highlighted the case. Hadi, a radical student leader was shot in December 2025 and he passed away on December 18 in Singapore subsequently leading to major law and order problem in Bangladesh. The case is being followed closely by the Islamists who have considerable street power in Bangladesh at present. The Jamaat-e-Islami which has 67 seats in the Bangladesh Parliament, is also pushing for justice for late Osman Hadi. So there is a domestic political angle to the case as well that makes it important for the BNP government.

Published - August 18, 2026 12:29 pm IST