Very grim picture: Gauhati HC flags 1.16 lakh unexpelled foreigners in Assam

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The Gauhati High Court dismissed Hamida Begum's fresh bail petition. The order exposed Assam's severe backlog in apprehending and expelling declared foreign nationals.

The Gauhati High Court has said that 1,16,946 declared foreign nationals in Assam are yet to be apprehended and expelled, describing the situation as a "very grim picture", news agency Press Trust of India reported.

A Division Bench of Justices Kalyan Rai Surana and Mridul Kumar Kalita made the observation while dismissing a writ petition seeking the release on bail of a woman declared a foreign national.

In its November 10 order, the Bench cited an affidavit filed by the Assam government, which said 1,16,946 declared foreign nationals were yet to be apprehended and expelled as of June 30 this year, according to PTI.

"It shows a very grim picture when it comes to the expulsion of foreigners and declared foreign nationals in the State of Assam," the court said.

The petitioner, Hamida Begum of Charaideo district, was declared an illegal foreigner by a Foreigners Tribunal in December 2018. She challenged the decision before the Gauhati High Court, which dismissed her petition in October 2020.

Begum then approached the Supreme Court, which rejected her plea in November 2025. Her review petition was also dismissed by the Supreme Court in March 2026.

She was lodged at the transit camp, earlier known as the detention camp, in Goalpara. She was later released on bail in accordance with the law laid down by the Supreme Court after being detained for three consecutive years following her declaration as a foreign national.

"It is submitted that after the petitioner was released on bail, she was regularly appearing before the concerned police station and it is in the course of such appearance before the police station, that the petitioner was again taken into custody," the High Court noted.

The court said Begum was a declared foreign national who had exhausted all available legal remedies after unsuccessfully challenging the Foreigners Tribunal's decision before the High Court and the Supreme Court.

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