In a first, Gauhati HC asks Assam government to pay Rs 2 lakh to woman pushed into Bangladesh

The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to pay Rs 2 lakh as compensation to a Bengali-origin Muslim woman for expelling her to Bangladesh.

This is the first time any court has imposed a cost on the state for forcing out a person to Bangladesh, in violation of deportation rules.

As Scroll had reported, Mumtaz Begum’s family realised she had been forced out of the country when they filed a habeas corpus petition in the Gauhati High Court.

The High Court impleaded the Ministry of External Affairs in the case and said it would direct it to “make an endeavour to have the woman located in Bangladesh and to expatriate her to India”.

The court also came down heavily on the Nagaon foreigners tribunal for its role in Begum’s expulsion.

Acting on the habeas corpus petition, the bench of Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Susmita Phukan Khaund said the court is satisfied from the nature of action taken by the foreigners tribunal that “the element of malice in law on part of the learned tribunal is apparent on the face of record.”

Foreigners tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies unique to Assam that decide on matters of nationality on the basis of documentary evidence.

The Nagaon tribunal had declared Begum a foreigner in 2019,...

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