FROM COLONIAL LEGACY TO CONSTITUTIONAL IMPERATIVE: CHARTING THE EVOLUTIONARY ARCHITECTURE OF INDIA’S EXTRADITION ACT, 1962
AUTHOR – KM. PRIYANSHI* & ASHOK DOBHAL**
* LAW COLLEGE DEHRADUN, UTTARANCHAL UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN, UTTARAKHAND, INDIA
** ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, LAW COLLEGE DEHRADUN, UTTARANCHAL UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN, UTTARAKHAND, INDIA
BEST CITATION – KM. PRIYANSHI & ASHOK DOBHAL, FROM COLONIAL LEGACY TO CONSTITUTIONAL IMPERATIVE: CHARTING THE EVOLUTIONARY ARCHITECTURE OF INDIA’S EXTRADITION ACT, 1962, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (9) OF 2026, PG. 570-579, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344. DOI – https://doi.org/10.65393/IJLRV6I961
ABSTRACT
The Extradition Act, 1962 is an early law in the Indian system of international criminal cooperation, adopted in the post-independence period to supersede the disjointed colonial system that was used to regulate the handing over of fugitives across international boundaries. This chapter systematically examines the history of the legislative change, judicial interpretation, and structural changes that have influenced the Act throughout the six decades of legal practice. The main aims of this investigation are three-fold, to follow the historical and normative roots of extradition law in India in its colonial roots to its contemporary legislative manifestation; to examine the significant legislative reforms that refocused the scope of the Act, especially the reforms of 1993 and the additional legislative evolution since then; .in providing substantive meaning to the principle of dual criminality and the political offense exception. The methodology of the chapter is a doctrinal approach, which relies on primary materials such as statutory texts, judicial decisions, treaty instruments, and parliamentary debates, with the comparative analysis of the common law jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom and Canada. The results show that the Act is structurally paradoxical as it has been heavily modernised in terms of legislation, yet still contains certain vestiges of colonial-era procedural rigidity, lack of coherent non-refoulement obligation, and systematic delays in the processing of extradition requests. The chapter ends with policy suggestions aimed at revising the procedural structure of the Act and aligning it with the modern international human rights requirements and treaty commitments, to better prepare the Indian extradition law to meet the needs of an ever more globalized and criminally complex world.
Keywords: Extradition Act 1962; Fugitive Criminals; Double Criminality; Political Offence Exception; Rule of Speciality; International Criminal Cooperation