Assam told to pay ₹2 lakh to husband of woman pushed into Bangladesh

The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to pay ₹2 lakh as interim compensation to the husband of a Bengali-origin Muslim woman for expelling her to Bangladesh without an opportunity to challenge the order of a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT).

The September 3 order was the first instance of any court imposing a cost on the State for pushing a person across the border to Bangladesh by violating deportation rules.

A Division Bench of Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Susmita Phukan Khaund passed the order after hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Mujammel Hoque, the husband of the “deported” Mumtaz Begum.

The court took serious exception to the way the FT in central Assam’s Nagaon handled Ms. Begum’s case, observing that “malice in law” on the part of the tribunal appeared evident from the record. An FT is a quasi-judicial body established to determine whether a person suspected of being an illegal immigrant is a legal citizen or a foreigner.

The FT declared Ms. Begum a foreigner on May 30, after she appeared before it following an earlier High Court direction to reconsider her case. The High Court had found that the tribunal did not consider all the evidence submitted by her.

The Bench noted that Ms. Begum was arrested soon after she was informed about the May 30 order, without getting an opportunity to challenge the decision. It also questioned the accounts of the tribunal member and the police regarding the timing and circumstances of her arrest.

‘Violation of procedure’

The court held that the procedure followed amounted to a “direct violation” of the standard operating procedure governing the expulsion of declared foreign nationals. Under the procedure, a person must be allowed to exhaust available legal remedies before expulsion.

Observing that the State machinery prevented Ms. Begum from exercising her right to approach the High Court against the tribunal’s order, the Bench ordered the Assam government to pay the petitioner (her husband). It, therefore, directed the Assam government to pay her ₹2 lakh as interim compensation.

“This palliative payment of compensation shall be in addition to and not in derogation of the right of the petitioner to seek compensation before the civil court,” the order read.

The court also directed Assam’s Home and Political Department to inquire into the date and time when the tribunal’s May 30 order was prepared. It added that the tribunal member’s computer could be seized, if necessary, to establish when the opinion was written.

The Bench further directed district Superintendents of Police to ensure that declared foreign nationals are informed about tribunal orders before being taken into custody. An adult family member must also be informed before the person is removed from the district, it said.

Moreover, the court impleaded the Ministry of External Affairs in the case and advised it to “make an endeavour to have the woman located in Bangladesh and to expatriate her to India”.