Administrative Law in Bangladesh 2026: Challenging Government Decisions, Tribunals, Ordinances and Section 144

Administrative law Bangladesh: how government power is controlled in 2026

Administrative law Bangladesh businesses, officials and citizens deal with every day is the law that governs how the State actually uses its power: who may grant or cancel a licence, how a civil servant may be disciplined, when a Magistrate may ban a gathering, and what a court will do when an authority gets it wrong. It is built from the Constitution, from Acts and ordinances, from thousands of rules and statutory regulatory orders, and from principles the Supreme Court has developed over five decades of writ litigation.

This guide is the map. It explains the sources of administrative law, the difference between an Act, an ordinance and a rule, how delegated legislation is controlled, the core principles of natural justice, legitimate expectation and reasonableness, the Administrative Tribunals for public servants, the Right to Information Act 2009, the Ombudsman that has never been appointed, and the emergency, curfew and Section 144 powers that tested the system in 2024 and 2025. Where TRW has already published a detailed guide on a sub-topic, we link to it rather than repeat it.

Summary: Government decisions in Bangladesh can be challenged through statutory appeals, specialist service tribunals for public servants, the High Court Division's writ jurisdiction under Article 102, and information rights under the Right to Information Act 2009. Which route is open depends on the type of decision, the legal instrument behind it and strict time limits. Emergency powers, Section 144 orders and metropolitan police bans are lawful only within their statutory conditions, and each can be tested in court.

Key point: Choosing the wrong forum is the most expensive mistake in public law. A service dispute that belongs before the Administrative Tribunal cannot be taken to the High Court Division by writ, and the tribunal itself cannot condone a late application: the Appellate Division has held that a time-barred tribunal decision is a nullity.

At a glance

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Table of Contents

What administrative law Bangladesh practice covers

Administrative law sits between constitutional law and the ordinary law of each sector. Constitutional law sets the framework of State power and fundamental rights; our guide to constitutional law in Bangladesh explains its structure. Administrative law asks the narrower and more practical question: did this ministry, regulator, Magistrate or statutory body act within its powers, follow a fair procedure and reach a decision the law allows?

A stalled licence renewal, an excluded bidder, a closure order, a dismissed officer, a banned rally: each is an administrative law problem before it becomes a litigation problem, and most are won or lost on the record built in the first few weeks.

The Constitution as the first source

The Constitution is supreme, and the provisions that matter most in administrative disputes are Article 27 (equality before the law), Article 31 (the right to the protection of the law and to be treated in accordance with law), Article 102 (the writ jurisdiction), Article 117 (service tribunals) and Articles 133 to 135 on the public service.[1] Article 55(6) requires the President to make rules for the allocation and transaction of government business, which is why the Rules of Business and the allocation of functions between ministries so often decide whether an officer had authority to act.[1]

Statutes, ordinances and delegated instruments

Below the Constitution sit Acts of Parliament and ordinances, and below them a dense layer of rules, regulations, bye-laws, notifications and statutory regulatory orders. Article 152 defines "law" to mean any Act, ordinance, order, rule, regulation, bye-law, notification or other legal instrument, and any custom or usage, having the force of law in Bangladesh.[1] A circular with no statutory backing does not become law simply because a ministry issued it.

Judge-made principles

The third source is the body of principle the Supreme Court has built when reviewing executive action: natural justice, legitimate expectation, the rule against arbitrariness, relevant and irrelevant considerations, and malice in law. They are applied mainly through Article 102 writ petitions; our guides to the writ petition procedure and judicial review in Bangladesh analyse the procedure and full case law.

Ordinance vs Act in Bangladesh: the types of law

Whether a requirement is "really law" depends on the instrument. The hierarchy runs from the Constitution to Acts and ordinances, then to rules and regulations made under an Act, then to notifications and statutory regulatory orders, and finally to circulars, guidelines and policies, which bind only to the extent a statute gives them force.

Acts of Parliament

An Act is passed by Parliament under Article 65 and the procedure in Article 80, receives the President's assent and is published in the Gazette.[1] The full process is covered in our guide to how to pass a law in Bangladesh.

Ordinances under Article 93

An ordinance is temporary primary legislation made by the President when Parliament stands dissolved or is not in session, if satisfied that circumstances exist which render immediate action necessary. From promulgation it has the like force of law as an Act. It cannot make a provision Parliament could not lawfully make, cannot alter or repeal any provision of the Constitution and cannot continue in force any provision of an earlier ordinance.[1]

The decisive safeguard is Article 93(2). An ordinance must be laid before Parliament at its first meeting after promulgation and ceases to have effect thirty days after being laid, unless repealed earlier or disapproved by resolution.[1] An ordinance is therefore a bridge, not a destination: if Parliament does not replace it with an Act, it simply stops.

The 2024 to 2026 ordinances and what became of them

The interim period produced 133 ordinances. When the 13th Parliament met, it settled 120 of them through 91 bills: 87 bills validated 113 ordinances, and four repeal bills nullified seven. Thirteen ordinances were never put to a vote and lapsed, including the Police Commission Ordinance, the two enforced disappearance ordinances, the Anti-Corruption Commission (Amendment) Ordinance and the Right to Information (Amendment) Ordinance.[9] The sequence of sittings, the special committee and the reintroduction of lapsed measures are analysed in our law-making guide, and we do not repeat them here.

The administrative law point is narrower. Every licence, approval, appointment or penalty made under an interim-era ordinance now needs its legal basis checked: is it under the validating Act, under an Act that amended the ordinance on the way through, under the old law revived by a repeal, or under a lapsed ordinance with no successor? A decision taken after an ordinance lapsed, in reliance on powers that no longer exist, is a classic case of action without lawful authority.

Rules, regulations, SROs and circulars

Rules and regulations are delegated legislation made under a parent Act, usually by the government or a regulator, and published in the Gazette, often with a statutory regulatory order (SRO) number. Notifications granting exemptions or changing rates are typically issued the same way. Circulars and guidelines sit below these: they can be binding where the parent Act authorises the authority to issue directions, but a circular that contradicts an Act or a rule, or imposes a burden the statute does not authorise, is vulnerable.

Delegated legislation and SROs: how they are controlled

Article 65(1) vests the legislative power of the Republic in Parliament but expressly allows Parliament, by Act, to delegate to any person or authority the power to make orders, rules, regulations, bye-laws or other instruments having legislative effect.[1] Most detailed obligations businesses face live in this delegated layer.

Three questions for any SRO or rule

• Is there a parent power? Identify the precise section that authorises the instrument. A rule made under a section that does not cover its subject is ultra vires.
• Does it stay within the Act? Delegated legislation cannot override, extend or contradict the parent statute, impose a penalty or tax the Act does not authorise, or operate retrospectively without clear statutory authority.
• Was the procedure followed? Where the parent Act requires prior publication, consultation or approval, an instrument made without it is open to challenge. Gazette publication and the date of commencement should always be verified.

Testing and challenging an SRO

A business affected by an unlawful rule or notification can usually raise its invalidity defensively, when the authority tries to enforce it, or offensively, by a writ petition seeking a declaration that it was made without lawful authority. Such challenges are common in tax, customs, licensing and utilities. Where the problem is policy rather than legality, engagement before the instrument is finalised is usually the better use of time.

Core principles of administrative law Bangladesh courts apply

Whatever the forum, the same handful of principles decides most challenges to executive action.

Legality: lawful authority and proper purpose

The starting point is that an authority may do only what the law permits. The High Court Division may declare an act done or proceeding taken by a person performing functions in connection with the affairs of the Republic or a local authority to have been done "without lawful authority and is of no legal effect".[1] Typical failures are an officer without delegated authority, a penalty the statute does not provide, or a power used for an improper purpose.

Natural justice and the right to be heard

The right to a fair hearing before an adverse decision is the most frequently successful ground in administrative law Bangladesh litigation. In Md Shamsujjaman v Bangladesh, decided on 14 November 2018, the High Court Division set aside the expulsion of ten students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. Linking the duty of "administrative fairness" to the due process guarantee in Article 31, it held that failure to comply with natural justice "leads to arbitrariness, which in turn, vitiates the impugned order".[4] The show cause notice had given no adequate particulars of the incident alleged.

For public servants the requirement is constitutional. Article 135(2) provides that no person holding a civil post in the service of the Republic may be dismissed, removed or reduced in rank until given a reasonable opportunity of showing cause, subject to narrow exceptions for criminal conviction, impracticability recorded in writing, and State security.[1]

Legitimate expectation

Legitimate expectation protects a person who relied on a clear promise or a regular practice of a public authority. In Government of Bangladesh v Golam Mustafa, decided on 31 January 2023, the Appellate Division held that the expectation may arise from an express promise made on behalf of a public authority or from a regular practice the claimant can reasonably expect to continue, and that the statement or practice must be sufficiently clear, unambiguous and intended to be binding; a departmental note the authority never approved will not do.[3] A publisher's claim that the government would buy its books failed for want of a lawful promise.

Reasonableness, arbitrariness and Wednesbury

Courts recognise the English Wednesbury standard, under which a decision no reasonable authority could have reached is quashed, but more often express it as arbitrariness, linking it to equality under Article 27. Among the principles the Appellate Division endorsed in Golam Mustafa is that the court can interfere only if the decision taken by the authority is arbitrary, unreasonable, in gross abuse of power or in violation of the principles of natural justice, and not taken in the public interest.[3] The ground succeeds most often where reasons are absent, similarly placed applicants are treated differently, or an authority departs from its own published criteria.

Proportionality

Proportionality, which asks whether a measure is suitable, necessary and balanced, has not been adopted as a free-standing ground of review of administrative action. It is best argued alongside arbitrariness or a fundamental rights ground, where Part III's "reasonable restrictions" formula already requires the State to justify the means it has chosen. Our judicial review analysis traces the case law and the signs of movement.

Administrative tribunals vs writ jurisdiction

For public servants, the single most important administrative law Bangladesh rule is that service disputes go to a specialist tribunal, not to the High Court Division. Article 117(1) allows Parliament to establish administrative tribunals for matters relating to the terms and conditions of persons in the service of the Republic, including the award of penalties or punishments, and for matters concerning the acquisition, administration, management and disposal of government property, including service in nationalised enterprises and statutory public authorities.[1]

Article 117(2) then ousts every other court: once a tribunal is established, no court may entertain any proceedings or make any order in respect of a matter within its jurisdiction, although Parliament may provide for appeals from, or review of, its decisions.[1] Parliament exercised the power through the Administrative Tribunals Act 1980, which, as amended, provides for Administrative Tribunals and an Administrative Appellate Tribunal above them.

Who the tribunal covers

Typical cases concern dismissal, removal, compulsory retirement, reduction in rank, promotion, seniority, pay and pension. Article 117(1)(b) allows the jurisdiction to reach service in nationalised enterprises and statutory public authorities, so whether a particular employer is covered must be checked at the outset: a writ petition on a matter within the tribunal's jurisdiction is barred by Article 117(2), while an employee outside it must go elsewhere.

Six months, and no condonation

An application to the Administrative Tribunal must be made within six months. Where a departmental appeal or review lies to a higher authority, the employee must exhaust it, but since a 1997 amendment a departmental appeal is deemed rejected if not decided within two months, and the six months then run.[5] In Government of Bangladesh v S M Abdur Rauf (24 January 2019), concerning an officer dismissed in 2004 who filed in 2011, the Appellate Division held that the tribunal could not entertain a time-barred case, treated its decision as a nullity and, under Article 104, set aside the decisions of both tribunals.[5]

Diarise the order, any departmental appeal and the date two months later, and file within six months of the earlier of the appellate decision or the deemed rejection. Informal "reconsideration" by a ministry does not stop the clock.

Appeals and further recourse

A decision of the Administrative Tribunal is appealed to the Administrative Appellate Tribunal within the period the Act prescribes, and a decision of the Appellate Tribunal may be taken to the Appellate Division by petition for leave to appeal, as the procedural history in Abdur Rauf illustrates.[5] Each stage carries its own special limitation under the Act.

Choosing between tribunal and writ

Outside Article 117, the Article 102 writ jurisdiction is the primary route for licensing, regulatory, procurement and local government decisions. Even there, the alternative remedy rule requires a petitioner to use an equally efficacious statutory appeal first unless the decision is without jurisdiction, mala fide or in breach of natural justice. The writ petition guide sets out the exceptions and the procedure from filing to rule nisi.

Public service challenges in 2026

Article 133 allows Parliament to regulate the appointment and conditions of service of persons in the service of the Republic, and, until it does, allows the President to make rules. Article 134 provides that public servants hold office during the pleasure of the President except as the Constitution otherwise provides, and Article 135 gives the procedural protection described above.[1] The Public Service Act 2018 supplies most of the detail.

The Public Service (Amendment) Act 2026

On 5 April 2026 Parliament passed the Public Service (Amendment) Bill 2026, replacing a May 2025 interim-government ordinance and introducing strict disciplinary provisions aimed at insubordination after recent staff movements. "Misconduct obstructing government work" now covers disobeying lawful orders of higher authorities, collective absence from work without leave or reasonable cause, and obstructing another employee's duties, and the bill refined the investigation required before disciplinary action.[6]

For public servants, the 2026 Act shortens the window between allegation and penalty, so the response to the first show cause notice matters more than ever. For departments, the faster procedure does not displace Article 135(2) or natural justice. A penalty imposed on vague charges, without disclosure of the material relied on or without a genuine opportunity to respond, remains open to challenge before the tribunal.

Common grounds in service cases

• Competence: the penalty was imposed by an authority subordinate to the appointing authority, contrary to Article 135(1).[1]
• Procedure: no proper charge sheet, no inquiry where one was required, or no second show cause on the proposed penalty where the rules provide for it.
• Evidence: findings based on no evidence or on material never disclosed to the employee.
• Discrimination: similarly placed officers were treated differently without reason, engaging Article 27 and Article 29 on equality of opportunity in public employment.
• Proportionality of penalty: a penalty grossly out of line with the misconduct found, best framed as arbitrariness.

Challenging licensing, regulatory and procurement decisions

Most commercial administrative law Bangladesh disputes arise from regulators and licensing authorities: trade licences, factory and environmental clearances, import and export permits, BTRC and BERC licences, BIDA approvals, and procurement awards.

Start with the statute's own remedy

Many regulatory statutes provide an internal review, an appeal to a ministry or a specialist appellate body. That route usually has a short time limit and must normally be exhausted before a writ is filed. Public procurement is the clearest example: the complaint and review panel procedure has fixed stages and deadlines, explained in our guides to the procurement complaint and Review Panel process and the public procurement framework. Licensing regimes are surveyed in our guide to business licences in Bangladesh.

Build the administrative record

Challenges succeed on documents: the application and acknowledgments, published criteria, correspondence, any notice of proposed adverse action, your reply and the final order. Ask in writing for reasons where none are given. Where key records are held by the authority, a request under the Right to Information Act 2009 can supply them, and an unexplained refusal is itself useful evidence.

When to go to the High Court Division

A writ is appropriate where the authority acted without jurisdiction, ignored the statute, denied a hearing, acted for an improper purpose, or where the statutory remedy is illusory or too slow to prevent irreparable harm. Interim relief, such as a stay of a cancellation or of the encashment of a guarantee, is often the most valuable result, and the petition should be drafted to justify it.

The Right to Information Act 2009 as a public law tool

The Right to Information Act 2009 gives citizens a statutory right to request information held by public authorities. Each authority must designate an officer to deal with requests. The officer must provide the information within twenty days, or thirty days in exceptional cases, and an officer unable to provide it must inform the applicant within ten working days.[7]

Appeal and complaint

If the request is refused or ignored, the applicant may appeal to the designated appellate authority within thirty days, and the appeal should be disposed of within fifteen days. After the appeal, the applicant may complain to the Information Commission within thirty days, and the Commission's process for resolving complaints runs to roughly 45 to 75 days.[7] Under section 27, the Commission may fine an officer who withholds information Tk 50 per day of delay, up to a maximum of Tk 5,000.[8]

Reform that lapsed

A 2025 reform proposal, drawn from the Public Administration Reform Commission's recommendations, would have raised the fine to Tk 250 per day up to Tk 25,000, required public bodies to catalogue and digitise their records, and expanded proactive disclosure of budgets, procurement decisions and audit reports.[8] The resulting Right to Information (Amendment) Ordinance was one of the thirteen ordinances that lapsed in April 2026 without a vote, so the 2009 Act applies in its original form.[9] For litigants, an RTI request remains a cheap, underused way to obtain the file.

The Ombudsman: provided for, never appointed

Article 77 allows Parliament to provide by law for an Ombudsman with power to investigate any action taken by a ministry, a public officer or a statutory public authority, and requires an annual report to Parliament.[1] Parliament enacted the Ombudsman Act in 1980, but no Ombudsman has been appointed since independence.[10]

In May 2026 a High Court Division bench issued a rule on a writ petition asking why the prolonged inaction should not be declared unconstitutional and why the government should not be directed to make the office fully functional; the Cabinet Secretary and the secretaries of the Law and Justice Division and the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division were called on to respond.[10] Until then, maladministration short of illegality has no independent investigator, a gap in administrative law Bangladesh has never closed.

Emergency powers under Articles 141A to 141C

Part IXA of the Constitution allows the President to proclaim an emergency if satisfied that a grave emergency exists in which the security or economic life of Bangladesh, or any part of it, is threatened by war, external aggression or internal disturbance. The proclamation requires the prior countersignature of the Prime Minister, must be laid before Parliament and ceases to operate after 120 days unless approved by resolution, with a shorter thirty-day rule where Parliament is dissolved.[1]

During an emergency, Article 141B frees the State from the restrictions that Articles 36 to 40 and 42 would otherwise impose, and such laws lapse when the proclamation ends, except as to things already done. Article 141C allows the President, on the Prime Minister's written advice, to suspend the right to move any court to enforce specified Part III rights for the period of the emergency.[1] The design is examined in our constitutional law guide. In administrative law Bangladesh terms, an emergency does not dispense with lawful authority, does not suspend rights not named in an Article 141C order, and leaves emergency action open to examination once it ends.

Section 144 orders under the Code of Criminal Procedure

Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 is the everyday emergency power in administrative law Bangladesh practice. A District Magistrate, or any other Executive Magistrate specially empowered by the government or the District Magistrate, may by written order direct any person to abstain from a certain act, or to take certain order with property in his possession, where immediate prevention or speedy remedy is desirable to prevent obstruction, annoyance or injury to any person lawfully employed, danger to human life, health or safety, a disturbance of the public tranquillity, a riot or an affray.[2]

What the order can and cannot do

• Written and reasoned: the order must be in writing and state the material facts of the case.[2]
• Ex parte only when necessary: it may be passed ex parte in emergencies or where notice cannot be served in time.[2]
• Individual or general: it may be directed to a particular person or to the public generally when frequenting or visiting a particular place.[2]
• Two months: no Section 144 order may remain in force for more than two months from its making, unless, in cases of danger to human life, health or safety or a likelihood of a riot or affray, the government directs otherwise by notification in the official Gazette.[2]
• Not in metropolitan areas: Section 144(7) provides that the section does not apply to a Metropolitan Area, where the metropolitan police ordinances supply the equivalent powers.[2]

Challenging a Section 144 order

The Code builds in its own remedy. Any Magistrate may rescind or alter an order made by himself, a subordinate or a predecessor, on his own motion or on the application of any person aggrieved, and where an application is made he must give the applicant an early opportunity to appear and show cause, recording written reasons if he rejects it.[2] Beyond that, a Section 144 order restricting assembly engages Article 37, which guarantees the right to assemble and participate in peaceful public meetings and processions without arms, subject to reasonable restrictions in the interests of public order or public health.[12]

The leading authority remains Oali Ahad v Bangladesh (1974), in which the High Court Division upheld a challenge to a Section 144 order banning assemblies indefinitely, holding that such an order ought not to be indefinite in its terms and that restrictions must have a clear and direct link to public order rather than resting on hypothetical or remote considerations.[12] An order that is open-ended, unreasoned or plainly aimed at one side of a political dispute is the strongest candidate for challenge.

Curfews and metropolitan police powers

Because Section 144 does not apply in metropolitan areas, restrictions in Dhaka are imposed under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance 1976, and similar ordinances apply in the other metropolitan cities. Section 29 of the DMP Ordinance allows the Police Commissioner, by written order, to prohibit public gatherings or processions when necessary for public peace or safety, but no such prohibition may remain in force for more than thirty days without the government's permission.[13] In October 2022 the High Court Division issued a rule asking why Section 29 should not be declared illegal and unconstitutional, on a petition arguing that it conflicts with Article 37.[13]

How curfews are imposed in practice

Curfews are usually announced by the government or the district administration. In Gopalganj in July 2025, a curfew imposed after violence on 16 July was extended, relaxed and reimposed over several days, replaced by a District Magistrate's Section 144 order on 20 July, and both were withdrawn that evening.[14] Because announcements do not always identify the statutory provision relied on, the first step in any challenge is to obtain the written order and identify its legal basis. A curfew that cannot be tied to Section 144, a metropolitan police power or a valid emergency measure is vulnerable as action without lawful authority.

Internet shutdowns are now prohibited

The telecom amendment approved by the interim Advisory Council in December 2025 incorporated a ban through section 97 under which internet and telecommunication services can no longer be suspended under any circumstances, abolished the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre in favour of a Centre for Information Support under the Home Ministry, and made lawful interception subject to approval by a quasi-judicial council.[11] A curfew or police ban may restrict movement and assembly, but it can no longer lawfully switch off connectivity. Its passage into an Act and the interception regime are covered in our guides to data and digital rights and telecommunications law.

Public policy and regulatory advocacy

Litigation is the last resort in administrative law Bangladesh practice, not the first. Many problems are cheaper to solve before a rule is finalised, and advocacy works best when it is documented and evidence-based.

Where advocacy has traction

• Draft laws and rules: ministries increasingly publish drafts for comment, as the 2025 RTI reform consultation showed.[8] A short written submission that proposes specific drafting is far more effective than a general objection.
• Parliamentary standing committees: with an elected Parliament since February 2026, committees again scrutinise bills and can call stakeholders. Our legislative process guide explains when and how to engage.
• Regulators' implementing measures: circulars, guidelines and licensing conditions are often where the commercial impact sits, and regulators can usually be engaged directly through trade bodies or individual representations.
• Information requests: RTI requests can surface the data and internal reasoning behind a policy, strengthening both advocacy and any later challenge.

Advocacy and litigation together

A well-run advocacy file is also a litigation file: submissions, responses and evidence of impact are what a court needs to assess relevant considerations, legitimate expectation and arbitrariness.

Step-by-step: challenging a government decision

The sequence below reflects how TRW approaches a contested decision in administrative law Bangladesh practice, whether a licence cancellation, a service penalty or a restriction on activity.

Swipe or scroll →

Two disciplines apply throughout. Never let informal negotiations with an authority run past a statutory deadline, and never file in one forum without checking whether another has exclusive jurisdiction.

Comparing the main routes

The table compares the principal administrative law Bangladesh remedies. On a phone, scroll it sideways.

Many matters combine routes: an RTI request to obtain the record, a statutory appeal to satisfy the alternative remedy rule, and a writ petition if the appeal fails or is too slow. Our constitutional and writ litigation practice advises on sequencing and interim relief.

What to watch in 2026 and 2027

Four developments will shape administrative law Bangladesh practitioners advise on over the next year. First, if the High Court Division makes the Ombudsman rule absolute, the government may be directed to activate an office that has existed only on paper since 1980.[10] Second, lapsed measures on police reform, enforced disappearance and the right to information may return as bills.[9] Third, the 2026 public service amendments will generate the first wave of tribunal cases testing the new disciplinary procedure.[6] Fourth, the pending challenge to Section 29 of the DMP Ordinance may redefine how far police can restrict assemblies in Dhaka.[13]

When a government decision threatens your licence, your career or your operations, the first decisions carry the most weight: which forum, which deadline, which documents and what interim protection. For a clear view of your options, contact TRW.

Frequently asked questions

What are the main sources of administrative law in Bangladesh?

The Constitution, Acts of Parliament, ordinances, delegated legislation such as rules, regulations and statutory regulatory orders, and the principles developed by the Supreme Court in writ cases. Article 152 defines "law" to include any Act, ordinance, order, rule, regulation, bye-law, notification or other legal instrument having the force of law.[1]

What is the difference between an ordinance and an Act in Bangladesh?

An Act is passed by Parliament. An ordinance is made by the President under Article 93 when Parliament is dissolved or not in session, has the same force as an Act, but ceases to have effect thirty days after it is laid before Parliament unless replaced by an Act.[1]

What happened to the interim government's ordinances?

Of 133 ordinances, Parliament settled 120 through 91 bills in 2026, repealing seven, while thirteen lapsed without a vote, including the Police Commission and Right to Information (Amendment) ordinances.[9]

Can a government employee file a writ petition against dismissal?

Usually not. Where the matter concerns the terms and conditions of service of a person in the service of the Republic, Article 117(2) bars other courts and the case must go to the Administrative Tribunal.[1]

What is the time limit for an Administrative Tribunal case?

Six months. A departmental appeal is deemed rejected after two months if undecided, and the Appellate Division has held that the tribunal cannot entertain a time-barred case.[5]

How do I request information from a government office?

Apply in the prescribed form to the designated officer under the Right to Information Act 2009. Information should be provided within twenty days, or thirty in exceptional cases; refusals can be appealed within thirty days and then taken to the Information Commission.[7]

Does Bangladesh have an Ombudsman?

No. Article 77 and the Ombudsman Act 1980 provide for one, but none has been appointed. In May 2026 the High Court Division issued a rule asking why the inaction should not be declared unconstitutional.[10]

Who can impose Section 144 and for how long?

A District Magistrate or an Executive Magistrate specially empowered. The order lasts no more than two months unless the government extends it by Gazette notification in cases of danger to life or likely riot, and it does not apply in metropolitan areas.[2]

Can the police ban rallies in Dhaka?

Section 29 of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance 1976 lets the Police Commissioner prohibit gatherings or processions, for no more than thirty days without government permission. Its constitutionality is under challenge before the High Court Division.[13]

Can the government shut down the internet during unrest?

No longer. The telecom amendment approved in December 2025 provides through section 97 that internet and telecommunication services cannot be suspended under any circumstances.[11]