Passport–NID Issue, UK Law Firm Email, Sheikh Hasina Not Applying

In a diplomatic development, UK-based legal practice ‘Matrix Chambers’ has sent an official email to the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, requesting the issuance of a fresh passport and National Identity Card (NID) for ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The High Commission has confirmed receipt of the correspondence and formally referred the matter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka for directives.

The communication was officially confirmed on Monday, 9 November 2026, by Saidur Rahman, Press Minister at the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.

Press Minister Saidur Rahman clarified that Sheikh Hasina did not personally submit any application for a fresh passport or NID. Instead, the request originated from the legal firm Matrix Chambers. He underscored that the mission has no immediate way of verifying whether the petition was genuinely authorized by Hasina herself, as the correspondence lacked requisite letters of authorization, authenticated power-of-attorney documents, or signed identity credentials. Despite the evidentiary absence, the mission dispatched the communication to Dhaka for executive assessment. Foreign ministry officials in Dhaka corroborated receiving the Delhi transmission.

According to a report by international news agency Reuters, Hasina’s foreign legal counsel lodged the representations citing her constitutional Bangladeshi citizenship and international human rights safeguards, claiming she intends to return to Bangladesh by December 2026. Reuters framed this as the first formal legal representation tendered to Bangladeshi state authorities since her ouster on 5 August 2024.

Responding forcefully at a press briefing in Dhaka on Monday, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir categorically dismissed the possibility of granting identity credentials. "Bangladesh will not issue a passport or NID to a terrorist. She is a convicted and fugitive terrorist sentenced to death," the State Minister asserted, emphasizing that the International Crimes Tribunal has handed down capital punishment against her for crimes against humanity committed during the July-August 2024 uprising.

Addressing the diplomatic channel, Humayun Kabir invoked the existing bilateral extradition mechanisms: "There is an active Extradition Treaty between Bangladesh and India. We formally want Hasina handed over to us so the judicial sentence can be executed on domestic soil." He declined to comment on whether the state would consider issuing a one-way Emergency Travel Permit.

This stance follows earlier statements by the State Minister on 5 November, where he affirmed that repatriating Hasina does not necessitate travel documents, as bilateral extradition protocols suffice. Furthermore, on 8 November, Minister for Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Md. Asaduzzaman reiterated that the government is mobilizing all international legal avenues under the extradition framework to ensure her return.

Sheikh Hasina has been residing in India since fleeing Dhaka on 5 August 2024 amid a student-led mass uprising. In November last year, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced her to death in absentia for orchestrating violent crackdowns and crimes against humanity.

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