The High Court has issued a rule asking why the act of barring three female friends from traveling to Nepal at the immigration checkpoint—despite them possessing valid passports and all necessary travel documents—should not be declared illegal. The court also directed that the complaint lodged with the Additional IGP of the Police Immigration Wing regarding this incident be investigated and resolved within seven days, with a report submitted to the court.

A High Court bench comprising Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Fatema Najib issued this rule on Tuesday (September 29).

The respondents named in the rule include the Home Secretary, the Inspector General (IG) of Police, the Additional IGP of Immigration Police, the Director of Immigration Police, the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Shahjalal Airport Immigration Police, and the immigration officials on duty at the time. They are required to respond to the rule within four weeks.

Lawyer Ishrat Hasan argued the writ petition in court. She stated that Rifa Tamanna, Sohani Islam Samapthi, and Naznin are friends. They are adults, and there are no lawsuits or court-imposed restrictions against them. When they went to the airport on August 8 intending to travel to Nepal, they were stopped at immigration. They were subjected to unnecessary questioning—such as why they were unmarried or whether they had their families' consent to travel abroad. Ultimately, they were denied passage through immigration, and no reason was provided for the refusal.

Noting that the denial of travel caused them financial losses regarding tickets and bookings, Lawyer Ishrat stated that a formal complaint was lodged with the Additional IGP of the Police Immigration Wing on August 31, seeking an investigation, preservation of CCTV footage, action against those responsible, and compensation.

"As there was no response to that complaint, a legal notice was sent to the respondents on September 6. After receiving no reply to that either, the writ petition was filed with the High Court on September 15." The writ petition highlights the violation of citizens' fundamental rights to freedom of movement and equality, as enshrined in the relevant articles of the Constitution. It seeks directives to prevent the future harassment of women traveling abroad based solely on marital status or the requirement for a guardian's consent, and also requests financial compensation for the victims.