Supreme Court Judgments, Summarised

by Barrister Tahmidur Rahman | Nov 3, 2026

High Court Division · Special Original Jurisdiction

Habib Molla v Judge (Joint District Judge), Land Survey Tribunal, Jhalakathi and others

Writ Petition 12703/2022 · Decided 16 February 2026

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2judges on the bench

6pages

44paragraphs

3laws considered

Summary

The petitioner filed a writ petition under article 102 of the Constitution challenging the judgment and decree dated 03.08.2022 of the Land Survey Tribunal, Jhalakathi in Land Survey Tribunal Suit No. 801 of 2014, which had decreed the suit in favour of the plaintiffs. He argued that he had no other forum because the Land Survey Appellate Tribunal was not in operation at the relevant time. The High Court Division noted that the State Acquisition and Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 2004 provided for a Land Survey Appellate Tribunal but none was established for many years, and that steps to constitute it were taken only under the 2023 amending Act, with appellate power vested in District Judges. As the decree involved factual questions for the appellate tribunal, and that tribunal had been established while the Rule was pending, the Court, following Writ Petition No. 2211 of 2019, disposed of the Rule without deciding the merits, giving the petitioner 90 days to appeal and staying the decree meanwhile.

Issues

Q1
Whether a writ petition should be decided on its merits against a Land Survey Tribunal decree where the Land Survey Appellate Tribunal, not functioning when the petition was filed, was established while the Rule was pending.

Key points

Where the impugned decree of a Land Survey Tribunal involves factual questions, the Land Survey Appellate Tribunal is the proper forum to adjudicate them.
Although the Land Survey Appellate Tribunal was envisaged in law from 2004, it was constituted only after the State Acquisition and Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 2023, with appellate power vested in District Judges and equivalent judges.
Since the appellate tribunal was established during the pendency of the Rule, the Court declined to enter into the merits and followed the directions given in Writ Petition No. 2211 of 2019.
The petitioner was given liberty to appeal to the Land Survey Appellate Tribunal within 90 days of receipt of the order, the impugned judgment was stayed until the appeal was filed, and the parties were directed to maintain status quo as to possession.

we are of the view that justice would be best served if without entering into the merit of the case the Rule is disposed of with the above directions taken by their Lordships in Writ Petition No. 2211 of 2019.

From the judgment, Justice Abdur Rahman

Law considered

Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, article 102State Acquisition and Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 2004State Acquisition and Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 2023

The judgment

In the court’s own words.

Writ Petition 12703/2022, as published by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. 6 pages, with paragraph numbers for citing.

Find in this judgmentPDF

1IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BANGLADESH

2HIGH COURT DIVISION

3(SPECIAL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION)

4WRIT PETITION NO. 12703 of 2022

5IN THE MATTER OF:

6An application under Article 102 of the Constitution of the

7People’s Republic of Bangladesh

-And-

8IN THE MATTER OF:

9Habib Molla

…. Petitioner

-versus-

10Judge (Joint District Judge), Land Survey Tribunal,

11Jhalakathi and others

…. Respondents

12Mr. S.M. Aminul Islam, Advocate

… for the petitioner

13Mr. J.R. Khan Robin, DAG with

14Mr. Md. Osman Gani, DAG with

15Mr. Ahmed Musanna Chowdhury, AAG with

16Ms. Kamrunnahar Tamanna, AAG

….For the Respondents

17Heard on: 25.01.2026 and 08.02.2026

18Judgment on: 16.2.2026 A.D.

Page 2

19Abdur Rahman, J:

20By filing this writ petition, under article 102 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, the petitioners challenged the legality of the order dated 3.08.2022 passed by the learned Judge, Land Survey Tribunal, Jhalakathi in Land Survey Tribunal Suit No. 801 of 2014. After hearing, this Court was pleased to issue Rule Nisi calling upon the respondents Nos.1-9 to show cause as to why the Judgment and Decree dated 03.08.2022 (decree signed on 09.08.2022) passed by the learned Judge, Land Survey Tribunal, Jhalakathi in Land Survey Tribunal Suit No. 801 of 2014 (Annexure- D and D-1) decreeing the suit in favor of the plaintiffs should be declared to have been passed without lawful authority and is of no legal effect, etc.

21The main contention of the writ petition is that as the appellate forum of the said judgment and decree i.e. the Land Survey Appellate Tribunal has not been come into operation at

Page 3

time relevant time for the instant case, therefore the petitioner has no other alternative forum but to file this writ petition.

22In this context, we find that the Land Survey Appellate Tribunal in Bangladesh was first provided for in law in 2004 when the State Acquisition and Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 2004 incorporated both the Land Survey Tribunal and the Land Survey Appellate Tribunal into the legal framework for handling land survey disputes.

23However, although the law envisaged such an Appellate Tribunal from 2004, for many years no tribunal was formally established by government notification. Only with the gazette publication of an amended Act in 2023 (State Acquisition and Tenancy (Amendment) Act, 2023) were the legal steps taken to constitute the Land Survey Appellate Tribunal under the revised law. The Government vested the power to learned District Judge and equivalent to it of each District for hearing the Appeal arising out of the Judgment and Decree of the learned Land Survey Tribunal suits.

Page 4

24Heard the learned Advocate for the contending parties, perused the writ petition along with its annexure, and other materials on record placed before us.

25It appears that some factual aspects are involved with the impugned judgment and decree and the Land Survey Appellate Tribunal is the proper forum to adjudicate the same. It also appears that till filing this writ petition no Land Survey Appellate Tribunal was in operation, but during the pendency of the Rule the Government has established the same.

26In a similar situation, another Bench of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in Kazi Sakib Bin Rahim and others Vs. Ehsanul Alim and others (Writ Petition No. 2211 of 2019) held that-

27“Accordingly, the Rule is disposed of with the following directions:

28(i) The petitioners are at liberty to file an appeal before

29the Land Survey Appellate Tribunal as established by

30the Government,

Page 5

(ii) If the petitioners intended to prefer an appeal before

31the Land Survey Appellate Tribunal having jurisdiction,

32the petitioners are directed to file such appeal within

3390 (ninety) days from the date of receipt of this order,

34(iii) The impugned judgment shall remain stayed till filing of

35appeal by the instant petitioners within the period set

36out in direction no (ii); and

37(iii) The parties are directed to maintain status quo in

38respect of possession of the land in question till filing

39of the appeal.”

40In view of the aforesaid proposition of law and facts, we are of the view that justice would be best served if without entering into the merit of the case the Rule is disposed of with the above directions taken by their Lordships in Writ Petition No. 2211 of 2019.

41Accordingly, the Rule is disposed of as per aforementioned observations and directions without any order as to costs.

42Communicate the judgment and order at once.

Page 6

43Learned Advocate for the petitioner is permitted to take back the certified copies of the Annexure replacing by the photocopies of the same (if required).

( Abdur Rahman, J )

44K.M. Hafizul Alam, J:

I agree.

( K.M. Hafizul Alam, J )