Gauhati HC orders repatriation of Mumtaz deported to Bangladesh
Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court on September 3 ordered the Ministry of External Affairs to initiate efforts to trace and repatriate Mumtaz Begum, a 43-year-old Muslim woman who was deported to Bangladesh in May 2026.
The issue dates back to 1998, when Mumtaz’s citizenship battle began after a police reference was made against her in the Foreigners’ Tribunal. She had submitted her grandfather’s name in the 1965 and 1970 voter lists, her father’s name in the 1977 voter list, a school transfer certificate and panchayat-issued certificates proving her lineage. Despite these documents, the tribunal declared Mumtaz a foreigner in June 2019.
HC says tribunal did not consider evidence on recordHer husband, Mujammel Hoque, moved the High Court that year, contesting the tribunal’s assessment. The matter remained pending until April 2026, when the court found that the tribunal had not reviewed the “entire evidence on record” and set aside the order. The High Court had remanded the matter to the tribunal to issue a fresh decision, directing Mumtaz to appear before the body on or before May 30.
However, when Mumtaz had gone to the tribunal with her husband and their lawyer, the authorities took her into custody. They issued a fresh opinion that she was a foreigner, setting aside the High Court order. “After the tribunal looked at our petition, our lawyer told us that my mother would be arrested. We were shocked… The High Court had only said there should be an inquiry,” Majidul Islam, Mumtaz’s son, told The Indian Express
The Juria Police arrived at the tribunal precincts and arrested Mumtaz and took her to the police station. When Hoque learned about the arrest, he tried to meet the tribunal member but was informed that the earlier opinion would be held, despite the court quashing it. A fresh order would come later, the tribunal reportedly told Hoque. Additionally, when Mumtaz’s husband applied for a certified copy of the tribunal’s order on June 2, it was only given to him after three days.
Moved to a detention centre, disappeared within daysOnly after her family approached the High Court did Mumtaz’s actual trial come to light. On May 30, Juria Police officials took Mumtaz to the Superintendent (Border) in Assam’s Nagaon, where her biometrics were documented and uploaded onto the Foreigners Identification Portal. She was kept there for the night and shifted to the Matia detention camp in Goalpara on June 1, where Hoque was barred from accompanying her. The District Commissioner ordered her expulsion within 24 hours.
Hoque visited Mumtaz twice at the Matia detention camp, but when he returned on June 5 after obtaining the certified copy of the tribunal’s order, he was told she was no longer at the centre. “When we tried in Nagaon, they said she was not in the jail or the police station there either,” Majidul said. He went to the Juria Police Station, Sadar Police Station and the office of the Nagaon SP. Yet, he did not receive any information on Mumtaz’s whereabouts.
The Foreigners’ Tribunal and the Border Police revealed that Mumtaz was handed over to the Border Security Force (BSF) and pushed into Bangladesh after Hoque filed an urgent writ petition in the High Court.
Separate affidavits from the police, the BSF and the district administration showed that Mumtaz was taken to a holding centre in Sirbhumi district, more than 400 kilometres away from Matia. She was then handed over to the BSF on June 13, which subsequently pushed her across the border between 12:30 am and 2:30 am.
Court orders compensation from state govtCiting three cases, the state had defended its actions that once the tribunal declares a person a foreigner and becomes a “Declared Foreign National,” they no longer enjoy protection under the Constitution. It explained the urgency of its actions, saying such persons disappear right before deportation.
The court, however, rejected the argument, saying Mumtaz followed every court order. It observed that the state’s own order from October 2025 said that expulsion of a “Declared Foreign National” has exhaustive remedies available before the courts. It termed the June 2 expulsion order of Mumtaz “farcical” as she was already in a detention camp at that point.
“Article 21 protects not only citizens of India but also aliens,” the High Court said, adding that the authorities are required to communicate the grounds of arrest, regardless of citizenship. The bench held that the tribunal officials “deliberately and wilfully delayed” issuing the copy of the opinion from Mumtaz’s husband to “ensure that by that time, the detenue (Mumtaz) would be removed from Nagaon district.”
In this context, the court ordered the Assam government to pay Rs 2 lakh to Hoque and trace and repatriate Mumtaz, stating that “the state machinery, acting in tandem, had prevented the detenue from exhausting her right to move this Court.”
Meanwhile, Majidul has decided to put his faith in the court’s order despite having doubts about his mother’s safe return. “We still do not know anything about where she is, or how she is. We fear for her safety and we feel horrible not being able to help her,” he said, adding, “We just have to trust the courts.”
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