Guwahati, Oct. 16: 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 by a Foreigners’ Tribunal and expelled to Bangladesh in June.
The direction came as the court was informed that an inquiry ordered into the preparation of the tribunal’s opinion had been completed. The opinion was delivered by Foreigners’ Tribunal No. 4 at Juria in Nagaon district on May 30.
A division bench of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Pranjal Das was told by the standing counsel for Foreigners’ Tribunal and border matters that she had received the inquiry report and needed time to place it before the court. The High Court had ordered the inquiry on July 3.
The woman, Musstt. Mumtaz Begum alias Mumtaz, a resident of Dhing Gaon in Nagaon district, was taken into custody on May 30 and expelled to Bangladesh on June 13. The court has noted that she was neither given a copy of the tribunal’s opinion nor provided an opportunity to challenge it.
The matter came up in a habeas corpus petition (W.P.(Crl.)/26/2026) filed by her husband, Mujammel Hoque, seeking legal intervention over her detention and expulsion.
The Foreigners’ Tribunal had first declared Mumtaz Begum 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 case to the tribunal and directed her to appear before it by May 30.
According to her husband, Mumtaz appeared before the tribunal on May 30 with her lawyer and produced a copy of the High Court’s order. However, after her lawyer left the premises, police arrested her and took her to the detention centre at Matia in Goalpara district.
On June 3, she was moved to Sribhumi and kept at a holding centre before being handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF). She was subsequently expelled to Bangladesh on June 13.
The High Court’s latest direction seeks to establish her whereabouts following the expulsion.
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