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HCAL 1140/2020
[2025] HKCFI 5394
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
CONSTITUTIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE LAW LIST No. 1140 of 2020
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BETWEEN
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Khan Mohammad Farok |
Applicant |
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and |
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Torture Claims Appeal Board /
Non-Refoulement Claims Petition Office |
Putative Respondent |
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and |
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Director of Immigration |
Putative Interested Party |
Application for Leave to Apply for Judicial Review
NOTIFICATION of the Judge’s decision (Ord. 53 r. 3)
Following;
Order by Deputy High Court Judge (Non-Refoulement Claims) Lewis Law:
The application for leave to apply for judicial review be dismissed.
Observations for the Applicant:
1. By a Form 86 filed on 9 June 2020 (“Form 86”), the Applicant sought leave for judicial review of the decision of the Torture Claims Appeal Board/Non-Refoulement Claims Petition Office (“TCAB”) made on 22 May 2020 (“the TCAB Decision”). A copy of the TCAB Decision can be viewed by the following hyperlink[1]. The TCAB Decision was made pursuant to a petition/appeal from a decision of the Director of Immigration (“DI”) dated 24 December 2018.
2. The Applicant has failed to identify any alleged errors of law, irrationality or procedural unfairness on the part of the TCAB in reaching the TCAB Decision to make good his challenge, either in the Form 86 or the supporting affirmation.
3. The Applicant is a Bangladeshi national. He claimed to be a member of a political party called Bangladesh Nationalist Party (“BNP”). His non-refoulement claim was based on an alleged risk of being harmed or killed by the people of a political party called Awami League (“AL”).
4. The TCAB conducted a hearing to inquire into the facts of the Applicant’s claim. The TCAB stated the applicable legal principles in the TCAB Decision and set out the Applicant’s case comprehensively.
5. After an intense factual assessment, the TCAB was not convinced that the AL people would intend to harm or kill the Applicant for his evidence was filled with inconsistencies. One factor the TCAB had regard to was the Applicant’s frequent travelling in and out of Bangladesh before he left for Hong Kong in 2015. As he was not found to be subject to any real risk of ill-treatment, his claim was dismissed on all different applicable grounds. He was also found to have a reasonable internal relocation alternative.
6. I have reviewed the TCAB Decision vigorously. In my judgment, the TCAB Decision was based on sound factual findings and there was no apparent legal error in the decision. Those findings were within the TCAB’s discretion and supported by evidence.
7. It has been reiterated time and again that the primary responsibility for the factual assessment of whether any future risk of ill-treatment exists if an applicant returns to his/her home country lies with the TCAB. In the absence of any errors of law, procedural unfairness or irrationality, the Court would not reopen the TCAB’s findings or make a determination on the case afresh. The role of the Court in a judicial review is not to provide a further avenue of appeal (see Re Lakhwinder Singh [2018] HKCA 246).
8. The leave application to apply for judicial review is thus dismissed.
Dated the 12th day of November 2025
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(Cheung Ho Yat, Annson)
for Registrar, High Court
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Where leave to apply has been granted, Applicants and their legal advisers are reminded of their obligation to reconsider the merits of their application in the light of the Respondent’s evidence
Notes for the Applicant:
If leave has been granted, the Applicant or the Applicant’s solicitors must:
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a) serve on the respondent and such interested parties as may be directed by the Court the order granting leave and any directions given within 14 days after the leave was granted (Order 53, rule 4A);
b) issue the originating summons within 14 days after the grant of leave and serve it in accordance with Order 53, rule 5; and
c) supply to every other party copies of every affidavit which the Applicant proposes to use at the hearing, including the affidavit in support of the application for leave (Order 53, rule 6(5)).
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Sent to the Applicant on 12 November 2025
Khan Mohammad Farok
Applicant’s ref. no.:
Nil. |
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Sent to the Putative Respondent / the Putative Respondent’s solicitors / such Putative Interested Parties as may be directed by the Court / the Putative Interested Parties’ solicitors on 12 November 2025
Torture Claims Appeal Board/ Non-Refoulement Claims Petition Office
Putative Respondent’s ref. no.:
USM 15159/19/1/32/B1868
Director of Immigration
Putative Interested Party’s ref. no.:
QA T/C 4545/18 (formerly RBCZ 12952/15) [T% S135]
Department of Justice,
Senior Assistant Law Officer
(Civil Law)
(Civil Litigation Unit 2) |
Form CALL-1
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