Article 43 Protection of home and correspondence
Protection of home and correspondence
It is the main constitutional privacy protection, covering homes, phones and online messages. It matters to anyone concerned about surveillance or unlawful searches.
A family lives in their flat. Article 43(a) secures their home against entry, search and seizure, so officials cannot simply walk in and take their belongings. This protection covers rented as well as owned homes. Officials need lawful authority before they can enter, search or seize anything inside.
Police suspect evidence is in the flat. A search must be authorised by law, for example under a warrant or a statutory power, and be justified on grounds such as public order. The search must stay within the limits of that authority.
Article 43(b) protects the privacy of letters, calls and messages. Interception is lawful only under a law imposing reasonable restrictions for State security, public order, morality or health. Messaging apps and emails are covered as other means of communication.
If a search or interception had no lawful basis, the citizen can seek a remedy in the High Court Division, and evidence and conduct can be challenged in criminal proceedings. Courts look closely at whether the law relied on was followed.
In plain English
How Article 43 works
Article 43 protects two aspects of privacy. First, every citizen has the right to be secure in their home against entry, search and seizure. Second, every citizen has the right to privacy of correspondence and other means of communication, which today includes phone calls, emails and messaging apps. These rights can be limited by reasonable restrictions imposed by law, but only in the interests of the security of the State, public order, public morality or public health. So the police can search a home with legal authority, such as a warrant, and communications can be intercepted only under a law that allows it on these grounds.
In practice
Searches are governed by the Code of Criminal Procedure and special laws that allow entry and seizure with or without warrant in defined cases. Telecommunication law permits interception of communications on security grounds, and the reach of State surveillance has been a matter of public concern. The Cyber Security Ordinance 2025, as reported, revised parts of the earlier cyber law. The Constitution Reform Commission recommended in February 2025 an express right to privacy; this is a proposal only.
The text
What Article 43 says
43. Every citizen shall have the right, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interests of the security of the State, public order, public morality or public health – (a) to be secured in his home against entry, search and seizure; and (b) to the privacy of his correspondence and other means of communication.
English text as published on the official Laws of Bangladesh website. The Bangla text is authoritative (Article 153). Where a court has changed the position, the status note above explains it.
Connected provisions
Related articles
Questions
Article 43: frequently asked questions
What is Article 43 of the Constitution of Bangladesh?
Article 43 gives citizens the right to be secure in their home against entry, search and seizure, and to privacy of correspondence and other communications, subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by law for security, public order, public morality or public health.
Is there a right to privacy in Bangladesh?
Yes, in part. Article 43 protects the home and the privacy of correspondence and communications. It does not create a general right to privacy, and the Constitution Reform Commission proposed in 2025 adding an express one, which has not been enacted.
Sources
- Laws of Bangladesh: The Constitution, Article 43
- The Financial Express: Ordinance scraps controversial sections of draconian CSA (May 2025)
- The Business Standard: What Constitution Reform Commission says on fundamental rights, freedom (February 2025)
This guide explains the Constitution for general understanding. It is not legal advice. Constitutional reform proposals under discussion in 2026 are described as proposals until enacted.
Constitutional and writ practice
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