The Indian Extradition Act, 1962 is an Act of the Parliament of India, specifically Act No. 34 of 1962, which consolidates and amends the law relating to the extradition of fugitive criminals. It was enacted on September 15, 1962, and came into force on January 5, 1963. The Act was created to provide a unified legal framework, replacing the scattered pre-independence laws, which included the UK's Extradition Act, 1870, the Fugitive Offenders Act, 1881, and the Indian Extradition Act, 1903.
The Act governs the surrender of a person by one state to another for prosecution or punishment. Extradition is primarily based on an extradition treaty, agreement, or arrangement with a foreign state, as defined in Section 2(d). The process begins with a formal request to the Central Government, for which the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) acts as the nodal authority. The Central Government then issues an order for a magisterial inquiry under Section 5. Key principles governing the process include dual criminality, which requires the offense to be a crime under the laws of both the requesting and requested states. The Rule of Speciality, codified in Section 21, mandates that the extradited person can only be tried for the offense for which they were surrendered. Extradition is typically refused for political or military offenses.
The Act connects to India's bilateral extradition treaties with over 50 nations. A significant amendment was introduced by Act 66 of 1993, which added the definition of a "composite offence" in Section 2(a). The 1993 amendment also introduced Section 34C, which allows for a sentence of life imprisonment instead of the death penalty if the surrendering foreign state's laws do not permit capital punishment. Furthermore, Section 34A allows the Central Government to prosecute a fugitive criminal in India if the request for extradition is refused by the foreign state.