Ahmed, who came to the UK in the late 1960s, held dual British and Pakistani citizenship at the time he was convicted.
His British citizenship was stripped by the courts after he was jailed, and it was expected he would be deported when his sentence was complete.
Earlier this week, victims of the gang were told provisions under the Immigration Act 1971 barred the removal of any Commonwealth citizen who arrived in the UK before 1973 and had been in the country for five years.
The understands the UK government is considering whether the 1971 law could be changed through an amendment to the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.
But once any legislative hurdles are cleared, the UK government would face the diplomatic challenge of getting Pakistan to agree to accept Ahmed’s deportation to the country.
That would require co-operation from Pakistani authorities, something that has proved elusive in similar cases in the past.
Pakistan has previously refused to take back two of Ahmed’s co-ringleaders in the nine-man Rochdale grooming gang.
Qari Abdul Rauf and Adil Khan could not be deported despite being stripped of their British citizenship in 2018.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the government should consider cutting foreign aid to Pakistan if it refuses to take Ahmed back.
He told GB News: “If a British citizen commits a criminal offence somewhere else or is in another country illegally, of course, we take back our own citizens.
“So we expect other countries, like Pakistan, to do the same when the boot is on the other foot.”
Ahmed was jailed for 22 years in 2012, one of nine men in the Rochdale grooming gang trial convicted of offences against children.
Police said as many as 50 girls could have been victims of the gang, and that many of them had come from chaotic, “council estate” backgrounds.
Judge Gerald Clifton said victims were treated “as though they were worthless and beyond any respect” because they were not part of the gang’s community or religion.
Greater Manchester Police said at the time there was no “racial or cultural” element to the crimes.
A report later found that police had not acted despite multiple concerns being raised. It said there had been “serious multiple failures” by police and local authorities.
