High Court Directs Centre, Assam To Trace Woman Expelled To Bangladesh

The Gauhati High Court has directed the Ministry of External Affairs and the Assam government to take steps to ascertain the whereabouts of a woman who was declared a foreigner and expelled to Bangladesh in June.

The woman - Mumtaz Begum, a resident of Dhing in Nagaon district - was taken into custody on May 30 and expelled to Bangladesh about two weeks later.

Sources said that New Delhi has already communicated with Dhaka over the case.

The state-ordered inquiry into when the opinion delivered by a Foreigners' Tribunal at Juria in Nagaon district on May 30 was prepared has reportedly been completed. The High Court had first ordered the inquiry on July 3.

Sources further added that a division bench comprising Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Pranjal Das was informed by the standing counsel for Foreigners' Tribunal and border matters that they had received the inquiry report and needed time to file it before the court.

The high court has noted that she was neither provided with a copy of the tribunal's order nor given an opportunity to challenge it either.

The matter concerns a habeas corpus petition filed by her husband, Mujammel Hoque.

According to the Foreigners' Tribunal report, Begum was first declared a foreigner on June 6, 2019.

On April 20, 2026, the High Court set aside that opinion, observing that the tribunal had failed to consider the entire evidence. It remanded the matter to the tribunal and directed her to appear before it by May 30.

Mumtaz and her husband then appeared before the tribunal, and produced the high court order copy. The police, however, arrested her and took her to the detention centre at Matia in Goalpara district.

Sources said that on June 3, she was taken to Sribhumi district of Southern Assam and handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF). She was subsequently expelled to Bangladesh on June 13.