Hasina's Passport Request and Bangladesh's Extradition Demand

Source: The Hindu 

Introduction 

Hours after a legal team for deposed Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina applied for a new passport for her, the Government of Bangladesh said she can return to Bangladesh only through an "acceptable prisoner exchange" process under the India-Bangladesh extradition treaty. Bangladesh's Acting Foreign Minister Humayun Kabir called Ms. Hasina a "terrorist" and said India should hand her over under the treaty. He also noted that she has been sentenced to death. India had earlier acknowledged receiving Bangladesh's extradition requests for Ms. Hasina but has not announced any decision on handing her over.

What is the Background of the Issue? 

• August 2024: An uprising toppled Ms. Hasina's government and she escaped to India. Her passport was revoked after that. 
• August 2026: At a press conference, she announced that she may return to Bangladesh in December, despite facing serious legal challenges. 
• The request: Through a London-based law firm, Matrix Chambers, she asked Bangladesh's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for:  
  • a new passport, and 
  • a National Identity Card. 
• Status of the request:  
  • A Bangladeshi official said the Ministry received the email, is examining the letter, and will decide after internal consultations. 
  • Md. Saidur Rahman, press secretary at the Bangladesh High Commission, said the authorities are "not sure if the request is genuine".

What is Bangladesh's Stand? 

• No passport: Acting Foreign Minister Humayun Kabir said Bangladesh will not issue a passport to a "terrorist", and that there is no provision for doing so. 
• Return through prisoner exchange: Bangladesh will seek Ms. Hasina's return through an "acceptable prisoner exchange process". 
• Demand on India: India should hand her over under the extradition treaty. 
• Allegations: Mr. Kabir said Ms. Hasina had fled to India after committing crimes. He added that she and several colleagues from her Awami League party are responsible for violent crimes and financial fraud and must be brought to justice.

What is India's Position? 

• The Ministry of External Affairs has not yet responded to Mr. Kabir's remarks. 
• India has acknowledged receiving Bangladesh's extradition requests for Ms. Hasina, but has not announced any decision on handing her over. 
• A source familiar with India's stance told The Hindu that refusing her a passport would further complicate the matter, because India would need a passport for her if it were to consider extraditing her.

What is Extradition? 

About: 

• Extradition is the formal process by which one State surrenders a person to another State, at that State's request, to stand trial for an offence or to serve a sentence already passed. 
• It usually rests on a bilateral or multilateral treaty. Without one, it may be granted as a matter of reciprocity or comity. 

Key principles: 

• Double criminality: The act must be an offence in both the requesting State and the requested State. 
• Rule of speciality: The person can be tried only for the offence for which extradition was granted. 
• Political offence exception: Extradition is usually refused for offences of a political character. Many treaties exclude serious crimes such as murder and terrorism from this exception.

What is the Legal Framework in India? 

Extradition Act, 1962: 

• This is the main law governing extradition from and to India. 
• Section 31 restricts surrender in certain cases, including where the offence is of a political character or where the request appears to have been made to punish the person for a political offence. 
• Section 34C deals with offences that carry the death penalty in the requesting State but not in India. In such cases, the person surrendered is liable to imprisonment for life instead of death. 
• The Ministry of External Affairs (Consular, Passport and Visa Division) is the nodal authority for extradition requests. 

India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty: 

• It was signed in 2013 and amended in 2016. 
• The 2016 amendment made the process easier: an arrest warrant issued by a competent court of the requesting State is enough, without having to produce evidence of the offence. 
• The treaty allows extradition to be refused, among other grounds, where the offence is of a political nature or where the request does not appear to have been made in good faith in the interests of justice. Offences such as murder and terrorism-related crimes are excluded from the political offence exception.

Conclusion 

The episode shows how politics and law intersect in extradition matters. Bangladesh is insisting on Ms. Hasina's return as an accused person under the extradition treaty, while also refusing her travel documents. India has to weigh the treaty obligations, the safeguards in the Extradition Act, 1962, and wider diplomatic considerations. The outcome will depend on how India assesses the nature of the charges, the political offence exception, and the death sentence passed against her.