Guwahati, Sept. 8 -- The Gauhati high court has directed the Assam government to pay Rs.2 lakh as interim compensation to the husband of Mumtaz Begum, a Bengali-origin Muslim woman who was expelled to Bangladesh after a foreigners tribunal declared her a foreigner. This is stated to be the first such instance where a court has imposed a cost on the state for declaring someone a foreigner and pushing them to Bangladesh, in violation of deportation rules. A bench of justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Susmita Phukan Khaund passed the order while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by Begum's husband Mujammel Hoque, a resident of Juria in Nagaon district. "As the detenue (the woman) has been expelled out of India without providing any information to the petitioner (the woman's husband) or any adult family member. as an interim palliative measure, the court is inclined to direct the Assam government to pay an interim compensation of Rs.2 lakh to the petitioner," the bench said in its September 3 order. The bench also impleaded the ministry of external affairs in the case and said it would direct it to "make an endeavour to have the woman located in Bangladesh and to expatriate her to India". Hoque moves the high court in June after failing to locate his wife at the detention camp meant for people declared foreign nationals by the foreigners tribunals, at Matia in Goalpara district. The Nagaon tribunal declared Begum, who claims to have been born in Rupahihat in Nagaon district in December 1982, a foreigner in 2019. Begum challenged the tribunal's order in the high court. In April this year, the high court set aside the tribunal's order and sent the case back to the tribunal for a "fresh decision". But within minutes of appearing before the tribunal on May 30, Begum was arrested. She was kept at the Juria police station that night and was taken the next day to the detention centre at Matia. It was only after the habeas corpus plea came up for hearing in late June, the authorities informed that Begum was handed over to Border Security Force and "sent back to Bangladesh" on June 14 through an international border point at Sribhumi district. The bench noted that Begum was not informed of the May 30 order and was arrested shortly afterwards, leaving her without an opportunity to challenge the decision. Questioning the timing of the tribunal's order and Begum's subsequent arrest within minutes, the bench asked the Assam home department to order an inquiry. The matter will be taken up again on September 24....