Assam woman pushed into Bangladesh gets Rs 2 lakh compensation

The Gauhati High Court ordered interim compensation of Rs 2 lakh after an Assam woman was pushed into Bangladesh without notice to her family. The court has asked the MEA to trace and return her, stressing her right to challenge the tribunal order.

In Short

• Mumtaz Begum declared foreigner, sent to Bangladesh without family being informed
• Gauhati HC makes MEA party to locate Mumtaz and facilitate her return
• HC says constitutional life and liberty protections cover non-citizens as well

The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to pay Rs 2 lakh as interim compensation to Mujammel Hoque, whose wife Mumtaz Begum was declared a non-citizen by a foreigners tribunal and pushed into Bangladesh without her family being informed.

The court has also made the Ministry of External Affairs a party to the case so that steps can be taken to locate her in Bangladesh and facilitate her return.

In its September 3 order, a division bench of Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Susmita Phukan Khaund said Mumtaz Begum was deprived of the chance to challenge the tribunal's opinion before the high court. Citing a Supreme Court judgment, the bench said Article 21 of the Constitution protects the life and personal liberty of both citizens and non-citizens.

Mumtaz Begum, a resident of Nagaon, was declared a foreigner on June 6, 2019, in a case registered in 2015. Foreigners tribunals decide the citizenship status of people in Assam suspected to be foreigners.

After such a decision, and if the person does not move the Gauhati High Court, the person is sent back to the country of origin through due process involving the MEA. Around 100 such tribunals are functioning in Assam.

The High Court had earlier, on April 20 this year, set aside the tribunal's opinion for not discussing evidence and had asked her to appear before the tribunal on or before May 30.

According to Hoque's petition, she appeared before the tribunal on May 30 with her counsel and placed the high court order before it. The petition said that after her counsel left, personnel from Juria police station arrested her.

Hoque told the court that his wife was first kept at Juria police station and then at Nagaon Sadar police station. He said she was moved to a transit camp at Matia in Goalpara on May 31 and later to a holding centre at Eraligool in Sribhumi district.

In his plea, he sought that she be produced before the court so that it could examine whether her detention was lawful. He also said she was handed over to the Border Security Force on June 13.

According to the high court's September 3 order, the BSF said in an affidavit that she was "sent back to Bangladesh on June 14, 2026", around 10 minutes past midnight in the area of Kalaincherra in Cachar.

The bench said the authorities had failed to serve a copy of the May 30 opinion or inform her family about her arrest and expulsion, which deprived her of the right to challenge the order.

The court said, "As the detenue has been expelled out of India without providing any information to the petitioner or any adult family member of the detention of the detenue, as an interim palliative measure, the court is inclined to direct the Government of Assam to pay an interim compensation of Rs 2,00,000 to the petitioner."

It said the amount must be paid within 60 days of receipt of the order and would be in addition to the petitioner's right to seek compensation before a civil court.

The bench said the MEA had to be added as a respondent to locate Mumtaz Begum in Bangladesh, bring her back and "give her an opportunity to exhaust her remedy... to approach this court to assail the impugned opinion by filing a writ petition, if so advised".

It also noted "a case of malice in law" against the member of the Foreigners Tribunal at Nagaon's Juria for "deliberately and wilfully" delaying the certified copy of its opinion, which was applied for on June 2 and delivered on June 5.

The court asked the Home and Political Department of the Assam government to find out the exact date and time when the May 30 opinion was made ready in the tribunal.

The matter will next be heard on September 24. As interim measures, the high court has directed the Superintendent of Police (Border) in every district to inform a declared foreign national about a foreigners' tribunal opinion and give a copy before taking the person into custody, and to inform adult family members before shifting the person outside the district.

- Ends