The India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty is a bilateral treaty signed between the two nations, creating a reciprocal legal framework for the surrender of persons wanted for prosecution or punishment in the other country. The treaty was signed in Dhaka on January 28, 2013, during the visit of India's Home Minister, and came into effect on October 23, 2013, after the exchange of Instruments of Ratification. Its primary purpose was to promote cooperation between law enforcement agencies and help curb criminal activities, particularly addressing insurgency and terrorism along the shared borders.
The treaty establishes a core obligation for each state to extradite a person found in its territory who is accused or convicted of an extraditable offence in the requesting state. An offence is extraditable if it is punishable under the laws of both states by imprisonment for at least one year—a principle known as dual criminality. For a convicted person, at least six months of the sentence must remain to be served. Key provisions allow for refusal of extradition, notably if the offence is of a political character under Article 6(1), or if the accusation is not made in "good faith in the interests of justice" under Article 8(III). The treaty connects to India's domestic legal framework, the Extradition Act, 1962, which governs the judicial process for such requests.
The treaty was amended in 2016 to simplify the extradition process. The amendment, which involved a change to Article 10, substantially lowered the threshold for extradition by removing the requirement to furnish concrete evidence against the offender; instead, an arrest warrant issued by a competent court in the requesting country is sufficient to initiate the process. This change aimed to ease the exchange of fugitives between the two nations.