The High Court on Tuesday issued a rule questioning the legality of preventing three adult women from travelling to Nepal despite having valid passports, entry permits and flight tickets.
The court also directed the concerned additional inspector general of police to investigate the complaints about the incident at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on August 8 and take necessary measures within seven days. It ordered the police to submit a compliance report.
The court further directed immigration authorities not to obstruct the three women from travelling abroad in future without a lawful basis.
The bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Fatema Anwar passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by Rifa Tamanna, Sohani Islam Somapty and Najnin.
The three women, who are involved with the Bangladesh International Mediation Society (BIMS), were travelling to Nepal on August 8 as mediators to attend a conference, said their lawyer Ishrat Hasan.
She said Nepal provides visas on arrival to Bangladeshi citizens and that travellers from Bangladesh only need an Electronic Travel Authorization.
According to the petition, immigration officials stopped the women despite having the required documents, allegedly because they were unmarried and travelling without their parents or guardians.
In the rule, the court asked why the authorities’ actions should not be declared illegal.
It also asked why guidelines should not be formulated to ensure that adult women are not prevented from travelling abroad lawfully because they are unmarried, travelling without their parents or guardians, or on similar gender-based grounds.
The secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the inspector general of police, an additional inspector general of police, Police Headquarters and the immigration officials concerned have been made respondents to the rule.
Advocate Ishrat Hasan appeared for the petitioners, assisted by lawyer Tanzila Rahman Jui. Additional Attorney General Mohammad Arshadur Rouf opposed the writ petition.