Gauhati HC asks Centre, Assam to trace Muslim woman expelled to Bangladesh

The Gauhati High Court on Wednesday directed the Ministry of External Affairs and the Assam government to trace Mumtaz Begum, a woman expelled to Bangladesh in June after being declared a foreigner.

Begum’s family learnt that she had been forced out of India after her husband, Mujammel Hoque, filed a habeas corpus petition in the High Court, Scroll reported in September.

Begum was taken into custody on May 30 after a foreigners tribunal declared that she was not an Indian citizen. She was expelled to Bangladesh about two weeks later.

A bench comprising Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Pranjal Das noted that Begum had neither received a copy of the tribunal’s order nor been given an opportunity to challenge it.

“In the meantime, the Ministry of External Affairs as well as the State machinery [should] take steps to ascertain the whereabouts of the declared foreigner,” The Times of India quoted the bench as saying.

The next hearing is scheduled for November 6.

In September, the High Court had asked the foreigners tribunal to reconsider its decision, noting that it had not considered all the evidence submitted by Begum before declaring her a foreigner.

The court had also directed the Assam government to pay Begum Rs 2 lakh in compensation for expelling her to Bangladesh in violation of deportation rules.

The order marked the first time a court imposed a financial penalty on the state for sending a person to Bangladesh in violation of deportation rules.

Foreigners tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies unique to Assam. They determine nationality based on documentary evidence.