Guwahati: Gauhati high court has directed Assam govt to pay Rs 2 lakh as interim compensation to the husband of Mumtaz Begum, who was pushed into Bangladesh after a foreigners’ tribunal declared her a foreigner in June.The court observed that Begum was expelled from India without her husband or any adult family member being informed about her detention.The tribunal declared Begum a foreigner on May 30 after reconsidering her case under an earlier HC order. The court had set aside the tribunal’s previous opinion after finding that it had not considered all the evidence she had submitted.Begum was subsequently taken into custody and moved to a detention centre. She was handed over to Border Security Force on June 14 and sent back to Bangladesh through an international border point in Sribhumi district of Assam.A bench of Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Susmita Phukan Khaund passed the order while hearing a petition filed by Begum’s husband, Mujammel Hoque, a resident of Juria in Nagaon district of Assam.“As the detenue (the woman) has been expelled out of India without providing any information to the petitioner or any adult family member of the detention of the detenue, as an interim palliative measure, the court is inclined to direct the Govt of Assam to pay an interim compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the petitioner,” the bench said.The court said the payment would not affect Hoque’s right to seek further compensation before a civil court.The bench directed the state govt to pay the amount within 60 days and ruled that the petitioner could seek more relief from a civil court.
