What is Extradition? A 2026 Guide to India’s Laws and Process

An Indian businessman flies to Singapore for a conference. Early 2026. At immigration, his passport gets flagged. An agent informs him of an active Interpol Red Notice from another country. Without immediate legal action, he’s facing provisional arrest and a process to transfer him to a foreign jurisdiction—all for charges he never knew existed.

Extradition is the formal process for sending a person from one country to another to face prosecution or serve a sentence. But this isn’t automatic. The whole system is tightly controlled by international treaties and domestic laws, designed to balance the hunt for justice against an individual’s fundamental rights.

Extradition – A formal process governed by treaty and national law, where one state (the requested state) surrenders a person to another state (the requesting state) for the purpose of criminal prosecution or to impose or enforce a sentence.

Red Notice – A request issued by INTERPOL to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. It is an international alert, not an international arrest warrant, and must be based on a valid national warrant.

What Does the Extradition Process in India Involve?

India’s extradition framework rests on the Extradition Act, 1962. It’s a careful dance between diplomatic requests and judicial scrutiny, which only gets going once a foreign country makes a formal move.

It all starts with a formal request from a foreign country—the requesting state—to India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). This isn’t a simple police-to-police call; it’s a formal plea sent through diplomatic channels. The request must come with documents making a prima facie case against the person, like a valid arrest warrant from their home country and evidence tying them to the crime.

Once the MEA has the request, its first job is to see if it even complies with the relevant extradition treaty. If it looks solid, the MEA sends the request to a Magistrate in the area where the person is thought to be living. That Magistrate then issues a warrant for the person’s arrest. After the arrest, a judicial inquiry begins. The Magistrate’s role is to determine if there’s enough evidence to justify a trial if the crime had happened in India. This is a critical safeguard—if the evidence is flimsy, the process may halt right here.

This inquiry is not a full trial. It’s a check. The Magistrate simply ensures the request isn’t frivolous and meets the legal standard of the treaty, especially the principle of dual criminality (meaning the act is a crime in both countries). If the Magistrate is satisfied, they write a report for the Central Government. The government then makes the final call on whether to surrender the individual.

How Do INTERPOL and Red Notices Affect a Person in India?

INTERPOL, the global police organization connecting 195 countries, is a key player in finding people wanted for extradition. In India, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) acts as the National Central Bureau (NCB), coordinating all INTERPOL communications.

Here’s the thing: a Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. It’s an alert system. When a country issues a domestic arrest warrant for someone, it can ask INTERPOL to publish a Red Notice. This alerts law enforcement in other member countries, asking them to locate and provisionally arrest the person until a formal extradition request is filed.

A Red Notice by itself doesn’t give Indian police the power to arrest someone on the spot. Instead, the notice acts as a strong justification for the Bureau of Immigration (under the Ministry of Home Affairs) to issue a Look Out Circular (LOC). An active LOC will almost certainly get you stopped at the airport, preventing you from leaving India or leading to detention on arrival. A formal arrest can only be made after the foreign country actually starts the extradition process under the 1962 Act, which then leads to a warrant from an Indian Magistrate.

What Are the Grounds for Refusing an Extradition Request in India?

Indian courts and the Central Government don’t just rubber-stamp these requests. They can refuse to extradite someone for several powerful reasons, with safeguards built directly into the Extradition Act, 1962, and India’s treaties.

The most common reasons for refusal are:

• Lack of Dual Criminality: If the alleged act isn’t considered a crime in both India and the requesting country, the request is dead on arrival.
• Political Offence: The Act flatly prohibits extradition if the crime is political. This crucial protection prevents the system from being abused to target political rivals.
• Prosecution is Time-Barred: Extradition can be refused if the statute of limitations for the crime has expired under the laws of either India or the requesting country.
• Risk of Unfair Trial or Discrimination: The government can refuse if it suspects the person will be targeted because of their race, religion, nationality, or political views.
• Human Rights Concerns: While less codified than in Europe, Indian High Courts can and do step in. Using their powers under Article 226 of the Constitution, they can block an extradition if there’s a serious risk of torture, inhumane treatment, or a flagrantly unfair trial waiting for the person on the other side.

And what if the person is an Indian citizen? India, like many nations, often refuses to extradite its own nationals. In that scenario, the government might choose to prosecute the person here in India for the crime they allegedly committed abroad, as long as Indian law provides for such jurisdiction.

What is the Difference Between Extradition and Deportation?

Both processes end with a person being sent to another country, but they are completely different legal animals.

The core distinction is their purpose. Extradition is a function of criminal law. It is a formal, treaty-based request between nations to hand over a person to face trial or punishment for a specific crime. It requires judicial oversight and meets strict legal tests.

Deportation is a civil, administrative action. It’s simply a country kicking out a non-citizen for breaking its immigration rules, like overstaying a visa or entering the country illegally. Immigration authorities, not criminal courts, make the call. The focus is on immigration status, not criminal justice.

The takeaway is simple. Extradition is about crime. Deportation is about status.

This article is published by an independent law firm for informational purposes only and does not represent or claim affiliation with any government body, international organization, or official authority.