Question

What is the Extradition Act, 1962 — name a key procedure?

Hint:

Always remember: Extradition Act = dual criminality + magisterial inquiry + Central Government’s final surrender decision.

Answer 1

The Extradition Act, 1962 is the principal legislation governing India’s obligations regarding arrest, surrender, and transfer of fugitives to foreign States. It operationalises India’s extradition treaties and provides uniform procedures.
A central procedural step under the Act is the Magisterial Inquiry under Sections 5–7.
1. Magisterial Inquiry – Core Procedure
When a foreign State requests extradition:

The Central Government forwards the case to a Judicial Magistrate.
The Magistrate holds an inquiry similar to a committal proceeding.
The purpose is to determine:

whether the offence is extraditable,
whether dual criminality is satisfied,
whether the evidence establishes a prima facie case,
whether any bars apply (political offence, discrimination, torture risk, etc.).

If satisfied, the Magistrate commits the fugitive to custody and reports to the Central Government.
The Central Government makes the final decision on surrender.
Thus, extradition is a two-stage process: judicial scrutiny + executive decision.
2. Importance of the Magisterial Inquiry It ensures:

fairness to the accused,
compliance with treaty obligations,
protection from political misuse,
adherence to human rights standards.

Answer 2

The question asks for a key procedure under the Extradition Act, 1962, and the answer becomes clear once we trace what actually happens after a foreign State asks India to hand over a fugitive.

The starting point is the treaty and the notification.
Extradition under the 1962 Act is not automatic. India must have an extradition treaty with the requesting State, or the Central Government must extend the Act to that State by a notification under Section 3. Without this step, no request can even be entertained.

The request triggers a judicial check, not a straight executive handover.
Once a request comes in, the Central Government does not decide on its own whether to surrender the person. Under Section 5, it directs a Judicial Magistrate to hold an inquiry. This is the pivotal safeguard built into the Act, since it takes the decision partly out of the executive's hands.

What the inquiry actually tests.
Under Section 7, the Magistrate conducts a proceeding much like a committal inquiry and checks whether the conduct is a crime under Indian law too, whether the evidence discloses a prima facie case, and whether any bar applies, such as the offence being political in nature or the person facing discrimination or torture if surrendered.

What happens after the inquiry.
If satisfied, the Magistrate commits the fugitive to custody and reports back to the Central Government, which then takes the final call on surrender. The judicial step and the executive step are kept separate on purpose, so that one authority cannot bypass the other.

Read as a sequence rather than a list of features, the Act's key procedure is this: treaty or notification, requisition, a Magisterial Inquiry under Sections 5 to 7 that tests dual criminality and a prima facie case, and only then an executive order of surrender. \[ \boxed{\text{Key procedure: the judicial Magisterial Inquiry under Sections 5-7, followed by executive surrender.}} \]