New Delhi: A Muslim widow from Assam has moved the Supreme Court after authorities declared her a foreigner and pushed her into Bangladesh, despite records showing her family as Indian citizens. The case raises sharp questions over citizenship verification, due process, and personal liberty.
Aheda Khatun, aged 44, faced proceedings under Assam’s foreigners’ regime following a police reference made in 1998. The case reached a Foreigners’ Tribunal in 2017. On 12 September 2019, the tribunal declared her a non-Indian. It stated she failed to prove lineage links with her parents and grandparents.
Khatun maintains she submitted multiple documents to establish citizenship. These included four voter lists showing her parents as voters over several decades, her school certificate, a Gaonburah certificate issued by her village head, and a registered land gift deed executed by her father. Her petition states the tribunal ignored or rejected this material without proper scrutiny.
After the tribunal order, Khatun spent time in a detention camp. She later approached the Gauhati High Court seeking review of the evidence. The court dismissed her plea in August 2025 on the ground of delay, without examining the documents. Following this order, authorities sent her to Bangladesh, where she remains.
Khatun has now challenged both the High Court order and the tribunal decision before the Supreme Court. Her plea argues the refusal to examine evidence affected her life and liberty. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant issued notice to the Assam government after her brother, a village civil police officer, filed an affidavit confirming the authenticity of family records.
Her lawyer argues the case involves serious legal issues, including rejection of certified documents on technical grounds and the duty of courts to examine errors when liberty stands at risk.
