Gauhati High Court Orders Assam to Pay Compensation After Woman Was Expelled to Bangladesh

The Gauhati High Court directed the Assam government to pay an interim compensation of INR2 lakh to Mujammel Hoque, husband of Mumtaz Begum, a Bengali-origin Muslim woman expelled to Bangladesh without a chance to challenge the Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) order that declared her a “foreigner.” The bench of Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Susmita Phukan Khaund issued the order on September 3; the matter is slated for further hearing on September 24.

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Mumtaz Begum, born in Rupahihat, Nagaon district in December 1982, was listed as a “doubtful voter” (D-voter) after the 1997 electoral roll revision. In 2017 the Nagaon FT declared her a foreigner; the High Court ordered a fresh review. On May 30, she appeared before the FT as directed, was again declared a foreigner, and was arrested. She was taken to Juria police station, then to Matia detention centre.

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A tweet on July 17 2026 reported her forced entry into Bangladesh. Authorities confirmed on June 14 that the Border Security Force handed her over at an international border point in Sribhumi district.

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• About 1,30,000 people have been stripped of Indian citizenship by Assam’s foreigners tribunals in the past four years.

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• Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma reported 1,679 illegal Bangladeshis repatriated from Assam in the last two years.

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• The state’s electoral rolls contain 91,385 D-voters.

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The bench held that the state machinery “acted in tandem” to prevent Begum from exhausting her right to move the court, noting she was expelled without informing her or any adult family member. The court directed senior police officers in every district to ensure that a declared foreign national is informed of the tribunal’s opinion before custody and that an adult family member is notified before any removal from the district.

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The Ministry of External Affairs was impleaded and instructed to locate Begum in Bangladesh and facilitate her return to India.

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Family testimony says Begum appeared before the tribunal at 12:30 pm on May 30 and was arrested half an hour later, while the Nagaon superintendent of police reported the arrest around 2 pm near the tribunal premises. The tribunal judge rejected the family’s version. The court highlighted this discrepancy and ordered an inquiry into the exact “date and time of opinion,” including the possibility of seizing the judge’s computer to determine when the order was authored.

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The ruling is the first instance of a court imposing a monetary penalty on a state for expelling a person to Bangladesh in violation of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950. It reinforces procedural safeguards when foreigners tribunals declare individuals non-citizens and raises concerns about arbitrary expulsions affecting marginalized communities in Assam. The decision could shape future handling of D-voter cases and the operation of foreigners tribunals across the state.

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