INDIA AND Bangladesh signed an extradition treaty in 2013, within the context of a number of Indian and Bangladesh fugitives hiding and working out of the opposite nation. However the mere existence of the treaty doesn’t imply that New Delhi has to hand over Sheikh Hasina to Dhaka.
In response to the treaty, extradition could also be refused if the offence is of “political nature”, though the listing of offences which can’t be deemed “political” is relatively lengthy. A few of the offences underneath which Hasina has been booked — together with homicide, enforced disappearance and torture — are excluded from the definition of political crimes within the treaty.
The treaty was amended in 2016 to simplify and hasten the extradition course of.
The modification to Article 10 (3) of the treaty did away with the requirement for the nation searching for extradition to supply proof of the offence dedicated.
Now, solely an arrest warrant issued by a reliable courtroom of that nation is required to course of an extradition — Hasina has a number of such warrants towards her in Bangladesh.
That mentioned, the treaty nonetheless supplies different grounds for refusal of extradition requests. Article 8 lists a number of grounds for refusal, together with instances by which an accusation has not been “made in good religion within the pursuits of justice” or navy offences which aren’t “an offence underneath the final legal regulation”.
So, India has the choice of refusing Hasina’s extradition on the bottom that the accusations made towards her will not be “in good religion within the pursuits of justice”, though this may increasingly additional pressure ties between New Delhi and Dhaka.
On the finish of the day, whatever the trivialities of the extradition treaty, the choice to grant Dhaka’s extradition request will probably be a political one.
“Do our essential pursuits lie in handing over Hasina to Bangladesh? They don’t. The legalese of the treaty doesn’t matter,” a former Analysis and Evaluation Wing (R&AW) officer, who has dealt intently with Bangladesh, instructed The Indian Specific earlier.
“There are a number of examples of relations between two nations being wholesome regardless of pending extradition requests,” a former diplomat who served within the area mentioned.
By the way, the treaty with Bangladesh allowed India to efficiently extradite Anup Chetia, a high United Liberation Entrance of Assam (ULFA) chief, in 2015.
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