The India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty of 2013 is a bilateral international agreement signed between the Republic of India and the People's Republic of Bangladesh to facilitate the reciprocal transfer of fugitives. The treaty was signed on January 28, 2013, in Dhaka and entered into force on October 23, 2013, following the exchange of Instruments of Ratification.
The treaty was created to address the problem of insurgents and criminals from India's North-Eastern states taking refuge in Bangladesh, and Bangladeshi militants, such as those from Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), hiding in Indian states like West Bengal and Assam. Its primary purpose is to strengthen cooperation in criminal justice, counter-terrorism, and security.
The core mechanism of the treaty is the obligation to extradite individuals who are charged with, convicted of, or wanted for an "extraditable offence". An extraditable offence is defined as one that carries a minimum punishment of at least one year of imprisonment in both countries, including financial crimes. This mechanism is governed by the principle of dual criminality, meaning the offence must be punishable under the laws of both India and Bangladesh. Extradition also applies to attempts, aiding, abetting, inciting, or participating as an accomplice in such an offence.
A key provision is that extradition may be refused if the offence is of a "political nature" (Article 6). However, the treaty explicitly excludes serious crimes like murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, and terrorism-related acts from being classified as political offences (Article 6(2)). The treaty connects to India's domestic legal framework, the Extradition Act, 1962, which provides the legislative basis for extradition.
The treaty was amended in 2016 to ease and hasten the exchange of fugitives. Notably, the 2016 amendment lowered the threshold for extradition by removing the requirement to furnish concrete evidence against the offender, making an arrest warrant from a competent court sufficient to initiate the process (Article 10). The treaty has been used to successfully extradite individuals like Anup Chetia, a top leader of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), from Bangladesh to India in 2015.