The Gauhati High Court has directed the Assam government to pay Rs 2 lakh in interim compensation to a Bengali-origin Muslim woman who was expelled to Bangladesh after being declared a foreigner by a Foreigners Tribunal.

The court’s order marks the first known instance of a court imposing a cost on the Assam government over the expulsion of a person to Bangladesh in alleged violation of prescribed deportation procedures.

The case concerns Mumtaz Begum, whose family discovered that she had been expelled from India only after approaching the Gauhati High Court with a habeas corpus petition.

The High Court subsequently impleaded India’s Ministry of External Affairs and said it would direct the ministry to make efforts to locate Begum in Bangladesh and facilitate her return to India.

A division bench comprising Justice Kalyan Rai Surana and Justice Susmita Phukan Khaund also strongly criticised the Nagaon Foreigners Tribunal over its handling of Begum’s case.

The bench said the tribunal’s actions demonstrated that “the element of malice in law” was apparent from the record.

Foreigners Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies in Assam that determine citizenship and nationality disputes, primarily on the basis of documentary evidence.

Woman declared foreigner despite High Court order

The Nagaon Foreigners Tribunal had declared Begum a foreigner in 2019, holding that she had failed to establish that she was the daughter of her claimed father.

Begum challenged the decision before the Gauhati High Court. The High Court subsequently directed the tribunal to reconsider the matter, observing that it had failed to properly examine all the evidence submitted by her.

On May 30, Begum appeared before the tribunal following the High Court’s direction. However, instead of reconsidering her case, the tribunal ordered her arrest.

She was arrested within minutes on the tribunal premises, according to the account presented before the High Court.

Her lawyers alleged that she was not even provided with a copy of the tribunal’s order, preventing her from exercising her legal right to challenge the decision.

The High Court subsequently examined the circumstances surrounding her arrest and expulsion from India.

High Court questions timing of tribunal order

The court also directed Assam’s Home and Political Department, which administers the Foreigners Tribunals, to investigate the exact date and time when the tribunal order was prepared on May 30.

If necessary, the department was directed to seize the computer used by the tribunal member to determine when the order had been written.

Begum’s family told the court that she appeared before the tribunal at around 12.30pm on May 30 and was arrested about half an hour later by personnel from Juria police station.

The tribunal judge disputed this account.

The Nagaon superintendent of police also told the High Court that Border Police personnel had arrested Begum near the tribunal premises at around 2pm.

The High Court questioned both accounts.

It observed that had Begum been informed, even verbally, that she had been declared a foreigner, there would have been no reason for her to remain at or near the tribunal premises between 1.30pm and 2pm, where police could take her into custody.

The bench further said the tribunal judge had “deliberately and wilfully delayed” issuing the order so that Begum could be arrested, transferred from Nagaon to the Matia detention centre and subsequently expelled from India.

The court concluded that “the state machinery, acting in tandem” had prevented Begum from exhausting her legal remedy by approaching the High Court against the tribunal’s May 30 decision.

Court orders Rs 2 lakh compensation

The High Court said Begum had been expelled from India without her or any adult member of her family being informed about her detention.

As an interim measure, the bench directed the Assam government to pay Rs 2 lakh to the petitioner.

The court referred to a Supreme Court judgment recognising the fundamental importance of an individual’s right to life and personal liberty.

It also noted that Article 21 of the Indian Constitution protects the life and personal liberty of not only Indian citizens but also foreign nationals.

The High Court directed the superintendent of police in every district of Assam to ensure that anyone declared a foreigner by a Foreigners Tribunal is informed of the tribunal’s judgment before being taken into custody.

It further ordered that before such a person is transferred outside the jurisdiction of the district police, an adult family member should be informed that the person is being removed from the area.

Begum’s long citizenship battle

Begum’s case dates back to 1997, when she was declared a D or doubtful voter during a revision of Assam’s electoral rolls.

Around three lakh voters were disenfranchised during the exercise, according to the report on the case. Many, including Begum, were subsequently referred by Assam’s Border Police to Foreigners Tribunals.

In 2017, the Nagaon tribunal ruled that Begum was not an Indian citizen. She challenged the decision before the Gauhati High Court, which ordered a fresh examination of her case.

However, the tribunal subsequently declared her a foreigner.

Begum again approached the High Court in 2019. The court found that the tribunal had not considered all the evidence she had submitted and ordered it to provide a fresh opinion.

On May 30, however, the tribunal again declared Begum a foreigner without, according to the High Court, properly addressing the merits of her documentary evidence.

The High Court criticised the tribunal’s conduct and said its judge, Bipul Kumar Nath, “had taken a personal grudge” over the matter being remanded for a fresh opinion.

The court also held that Begum had not been given an opportunity to challenge the May 30 order, describing the action as a “direct violation” of the standard operating procedure under the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950.

Under the procedure cited by the court, a person can be expelled only after exhausting the legal remedies available to them.

Assam’s deportation process under scrutiny

The Gauhati High Court’s observations have placed renewed focus on the functioning of Foreigners Tribunals and the procedures followed when people declared foreigners are detained and deported.

In May last year, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Assam government launched a crackdown on people officially classified as “declared foreigners”. Reports said several such people were picked up from their homes and taken to detention facilities before being expelled to Bangladesh.

“Declared foreigners” are generally long-term residents of Assam who have families and property in the state but have failed to establish their Indian citizenship before Foreigners Tribunals through documentary evidence.

The Gauhati High Court’s latest order has raised questions over whether adequate legal safeguards were followed in Begum’s case and has directed the state authorities to ensure that people declared foreigners and their adult family members are properly informed before detention and removal.

Source: Scroll.in