Public Demands Recovery Act Bangladesh: Certificate Cases, Objections, Appeals and Group Claims (2026)

Public Demands Recovery Act Bangladesh: how certificate cases work in 2026

The Public Demands Recovery Act Bangladesh still uses is more than a century old, and it remains one of the fastest debt-collection tools in the legal system. It lets the Government, and a defined list of public bodies and state-owned lenders, recover money without filing a suit. A revenue officer signs a certificate, the certificate operates like a decree, and the debtor's land, bank balances and liberty become exposed within weeks. For borrowers, lessees, landowners and guarantors, a notice from a General Certificate Officer is not a letter to put in a drawer. Every right the debtor has depends on what is done in the first thirty days.

This guide explains how certificate cases work in 2026, from the section 7 notice and section 9 objection through execution, appeal, civil suit and writ, and the overlap with the Artha Rin Adalat Ain 2003 for state-owned banks. It closes with a full section on collective litigation: representative suits under Order I rule 8 of the Code of Civil Procedure, public interest litigation and collective consumer claims.

Summary: A certificate case under the Public Demands Recovery Act 1913 lets the Collector, or a body entitled to make a requisition, recover a listed public demand through a Certificate Officer instead of a civil court. The debtor has thirty days from service of the section 7 notice to deny liability under section 9. After that the certificate is executed by attachment, sale or civil detention. Appeals go up the revenue hierarchy within fifteen or thirty days, and the High Court Division intervenes by writ where the officer acts without jurisdiction or ignores the statute.

Key point: Missing the section 9 deadline has consequences beyond the certificate case itself. Under section 34, a certificate debtor who did not file a petition denying liability, or did not state the ground in it, generally cannot later bring a civil suit to cancel or modify the certificate unless the court accepts that there was good reason for the omission.

At a glance

Swipe or scroll →

Table of Contents

What the Public Demands Recovery Act Bangladesh does in 2026

The Public Demands Recovery Act 1913 is Bengal Act III of 1913, which extends to the whole of Bangladesh and was adapted after independence by the Bangladesh Laws (Revision and Declaration) Act 1973.[1] Its purpose is narrow and practical: to consolidate the law on recovering public demands so that the state does not need to sue for every arrear of revenue, rent, tax or loan.

The mechanism is the certificate. Once a certificate is signed and filed, the debtor becomes a "certificate-debtor" and the creditor a "certificate-holder".[1] The High Court Division has described a certificate as tantamount to a decree, with the Certificate Officer in a position similar to an executing court.[3] Section 49 gives officers acting under the Act the powers of a civil court to receive evidence, administer oaths, compel attendance and require documents.[1]

An additional remedy, not a replacement

Section 55 provides that the powers under the Act are in addition to, and not in derogation of, powers conferred by any other law for recovering a debt or demand to which the Act applies.[1] In other words, the Public Demands Recovery Act Bangladesh applies sits alongside civil suits, tax enforcement and special recovery statutes. Where a creditor has a choice, the certificate route is usually faster and carries a statutory charge on land from the date of notice.

Who can use the Public Demands Recovery Act Bangladesh: Schedule I claims

A "public demand" means any arrear or money mentioned or referred to in Schedule I to the Act, together with interest chargeable by law up to the date the certificate is signed.[1] The first question in every certificate case is therefore whether the claim falls within Schedule I, either directly or because another statute declares the money recoverable as a public demand. If it does not, the Certificate Officer has no jurisdiction, however clear the debt may be.

The Government and the Collector

Where the public demand is payable to the Collector, section 4 allows the Certificate Officer, once satisfied that the demand is due, to sign the certificate directly.[1] Land revenue is the classic example: under section 9 of the Land Development Tax Act 2023, tax unpaid for three consecutive years is recoverable, with a penalty of 6.25 per cent a year, through a certificate case, which must be withdrawn if the arrears and penalty are paid.[8] Government lease money follows the same route: in 2025 the High Court Division reviewed a certificate case for arrears of rent on a leased jalmahal (fishery) in Sunamganj.[6]

Requisitioning bodies under section 5

Where the public demand is payable to someone other than the Collector, that person sends the Certificate Officer a written requisition in the prescribed form under section 5. The requisition must be signed and verified, and, except where rules provide otherwise, carries the same court fee as a plaint for the same amount. A requisition by a co-operative land mortgage bank must be countersigned by the Registrar of Co-operative Societies.[1] Under section 6, the Certificate Officer may sign the certificate only if satisfied that the demand is recoverable and that recovery by suit is not barred by law.[1]

The fast track in section 10A

Section 10A creates a stricter regime for certificates recovering dues under the Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation Order 1973, the Bangladesh Krishi Bank Order 1973, the Co-operative Societies Act 1940 or the Customs Act 1969, loans advanced by the Government, and money referred to in Article 15 of Schedule I.[1] Instead of the ordinary section 7 notice, the debtor receives a demand notice by registered post requiring deposit of the debt within thirty days. Sections 9 and 10 do not apply, so there is no petition denying liability before the Certificate Officer, and on default the certificate goes straight to execution.[1]

State-owned banks

Bank loans are a special case. Section 5(5) of the Artha Rin Adalat Ain 2003 provides that, even where a loan recoverable under that Act is a public demand, the suit must be filed in the Artha Rin Adalat. The proviso then allows Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank and other state-owned financial institutions to bring claims of up to Tk 5,00,000 as certificate cases under the 1913 Act instead.[2] Private banks have no such option.

What is not a public demand

The courts police the boundary closely. In 2024 the High Court Division held that the definition in section 3(6) does not extend to fines imposed in cheque dishonour cases under the Negotiable Instruments Act 1881, which must be recovered through section 386 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.[5] In February 2026 a Division Bench went further, as explained in the section on 2026 developments. A private creditor cannot convert an ordinary commercial debt into a public demand by sending a requisition.

The table below summarises where common claims belong. On a phone, scroll it sideways.

The Certificate Officer and how a certificate case starts

Section 3(3) defines a Certificate Officer as a Collector, an Upazila Nirbahi Officer, an Upazila Magistrate, or any officer appointed by a Collector, with the Commissioner's sanction, to perform those functions.[1] In district towns most requisitions are handled by the General Certificate Officer in the Deputy Commissioner's office.[3] [6]

The duty to scrutinise the requisition

The Certificate Officer is not a rubber stamp. In Md Shahin Ikbal v General Certificate Officer, Rajshahi, Agrani Bank had requisitioned Tk 4,16,756 on a cash credit loan of Tk 2,50,000. The High Court Division held that before starting a certificate case the officer must check that the requisition is in the prescribed form under section 5, that section 6 has been complied with, and that the amount is actually due. A certificate begun on an improperly filed requisition, without objective satisfaction, was quashed.[3]

Compensation for a requisition without reasonable cause

If the Certificate Officer is satisfied that a requisition was made without reasonable cause, section 46 allows compensation to be awarded to the certificate debtor and recovered from the certificate holder as costs.[1] The provision is rarely invoked but is worth pleading where a lender has inflated its claim.

Notice under section 7 and its legal effect

Once a certificate is filed under section 4 or section 6, section 7 requires the Certificate Officer to serve the certificate debtor, in the prescribed manner, with a notice in the prescribed form and a copy of the certificate.[1] The notice is the hinge on which the Public Demands Recovery Act Bangladesh turns: it triggers the debtor's time to object, the waiting period before execution and the statutory consequences for the debtor's property.

Void transfers and a statutory charge

From service of the notice, section 8 makes any private transfer or delivery of the debtor's immovable property in the district, or of any interest in it, void against claims enforceable in execution of the certificate. The amount due also becomes a charge on the debtor's immovable property wherever situated, and every later charge is postponed to it.[1] A debtor who sells land after receiving notice, and a buyer who completes without checking the certificate register, both take a serious risk.

When service fails

Defective service can unravel the whole proceeding. In Md Belal Hossain v Md Sayejuddin Mondal, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank had filed a certificate case over an agricultural loan of Tk 6,000 and the land was sold at auction for Tk 24,000. The process server admitted in evidence that he had not served the section 7 notice on the debtor. In December 2023 the High Court Division restored the trial court's decree in the debtor's favour, conditioned on his depositing the auction price with interest.[7]

Section 36 separately preserves a civil suit to recover possession or set aside a sale for non-service of notice, but only within one year of delivery of possession and only if the debtor did not appear in the certificate proceeding or apply under sections 22 or 23.[1]

Objecting under section 9: denying liability

Section 9 allows the certificate debtor, within thirty days from service of the section 7 notice, to present a petition in the prescribed form, signed and verified, denying liability in whole or in part. If the notice was not duly served, the thirty days run from execution of any process to enforce the certificate.[1]

How the petition is heard

Under section 10, the Certificate Officer hears the petition, takes evidence where necessary and decides whether the debtor is liable for all or part of the amount, and may set aside, modify or vary the certificate. Where the officer is not the Collector and the petition raises a bona fide claim of right to property, it must be referred to the Collector, who must cancel the certificate if satisfied that such a claim is involved.[1] That proviso protects co-sharers and third parties.

Why the petition protects every later remedy

Section 13 prevents any step in execution until thirty days have passed from service of notice or, where a petition is filed, until it is determined.[1] A section 9 petition therefore buys time. It also preserves the civil suit under section 34, which is barred if the debtor omitted to file a petition, or to state in it the ground relied on, without good reason.[1] It should state every objection, from payments and interest to jurisdiction and limitation.

Execution: attachment, sale and arrest

Section 14 sets out the modes of execution the Public Demands Recovery Act Bangladesh allows: attachment and sale, or sale without prior attachment, of any property; attachment of a decree; arrest and detention in civil prison; or any combination, although the officer may refuse to proceed against person and property at the same time.[1]

Attachment of property

Property liable to attachment under section 60 of the Code of Civil Procedure may be attached and sold, so the same exemptions apply.[1] Where the officer is satisfied that the debtor is likely to conceal, remove or dispose of movable property, the proviso to section 13 permits attachment before the thirty days expire, for recorded reasons, and the attachment is cancelled if satisfactory security is furnished.[1]

Sale and setting aside a sale

A purchaser acquires only the debtor's right, title and interest at the time of sale.[1]

Within thirty days of a sale of immovable property, the debtor or any affected person may have it set aside under section 22 by depositing the amount in the sale proclamation with interest at 6.25 per cent a year, plus five per cent of the purchase money for the purchaser. Within sixty days, section 23 allows an application on the ground of non-service of the section 7 notice or material irregularity, but only on proof of substantial injury and, for the debtor, on deposit of the amount due or proof of non-liability.[1]

Arrest and civil detention

Arrest is the most feared feature of a certificate case, and section 29 hedges it with conditions. The officer must first give the debtor an opportunity to show cause and must record reasons showing that the debtor, to obstruct or delay execution, is likely to abscond or has dishonestly transferred, concealed or removed property since the certificate was filed, or that the debtor has had the means to pay and refuses or neglects to do so.[1]

Detention may last up to six months where the demand exceeds fifty taka. Release follows payment, satisfaction or cancellation of the certificate, or a request by the requisitioning party, but release does not discharge the debt.[1] Section 33 bars arrest or detention of a woman, and of anyone the officer considers a minor or of unsound mind.

Interest, costs and charges

Section 16 makes recoverable interest from the date the certificate is signed until realisation, at the rate chargeable by law on that date or 6.25 per cent a year, whichever is higher, together with costs and process charges.[1] In Shahin Ikbal the debtor had paid Tk 6,83,756 against a requisition of Tk 4,16,756, yet the bank claimed a further Tk 5,07,766. The court held that interest during the case must be computed under section 16 and urged Bangladesh Bank to inspect banks' interest calculations under the Bank Company Act 1991.[3]

The sequence below reflects how we approach a certificate case on behalf of a debtor who has just received notice.

Swipe or scroll →

Appeal, revision and review

Section 51 provides an appeal from any order under the Act. An order of an Assistant or Deputy Collector, or of a Certificate Officer who is not the Collector, is appealable to the Collector within fifteen days. An order of the Collector is appealable to the Commissioner within thirty days. No appeal lies from an order under section 22.[1] Filing an appeal does not stop execution: section 51(5) allows a stay only if the appellate authority directs it. Section 52 bars a second appeal from the Collector's appellate order.[1]

Revision up the revenue hierarchy

Section 53 gives the Collector power to revise orders of Certificate Officers, Assistant Collectors and Deputy Collectors, the Commissioner power to revise the Collector's orders, and the Board of Land Administration power to revise the Commissioner's orders, with the Board's order declared final.[1] In practice revisions now reach the Land Appeal Board. In Md Alim Uddin v Bangladesh, decided on 20 July 2025, the High Court Division struck down a revisional order passed by a single member of the Land Appeal Board without any shown delegation from the chairman or the Board, and with it the section 7 notice demanding Tk 4,64,392.[6]

Section 54 also allows any order to be reviewed by the officer who made it, or a successor, for a mistake or error in the certificate or proceedings.[1]

Civil suits and the bar on civil courts

Section 37 sends every question between certificate holder and certificate debtor about the making, execution, discharge or satisfaction of a certificate, or the confirmation or setting aside of a sale, to the Certificate Officer and not to a civil court, except where the Act expressly provides otherwise. A suit may still be brought on the ground of fraud.[1]

The section 34 suit to cancel or modify

The main express exception is section 34. The debtor may sue in a civil court to have the certificate cancelled or modified, with consequential relief, within six months from service of the section 7 notice, from determination of a section 9 petition, or from decision of a section 51 appeal against a section 10 order, as the case may be.[1] For certificates for demands under Articles 1 and 2 of Schedule I, the amount must first be paid to the Certificate Officer within the stated thirty-day windows.

Limited grounds

Section 35 confines cancellation to three grounds: the amount was paid or discharged before the certificate was signed; no part of it was due to the certificate holder; or, for fines, costs, charges, duties or fees adjudged by a Collector or public officer, the proceedings did not substantially conform to the governing law and the debtor suffered substantial injury as a result. Modification is limited to cases where part of the debt was not due or the debtor was not credited with a payment.[1] A civil suit is not a general appeal on the merits.

Writ challenges in the High Court Division

Because certificate cases are run by executive officers, the High Court Division's writ jurisdiction under article 102 of the Constitution is the most powerful check on how the Public Demands Recovery Act Bangladesh is applied. The existence of statutory appeals has not stopped the court from intervening where an officer acts without jurisdiction.

In Shahin Ikbal the bank argued that the petition was not maintainable because an appeal lay under the Act. The High Court Division held that certiorari controls authorities acting without jurisdiction, in breach of natural justice or with an error of law apparent on the record. With twelve years already lost, the writ was an efficacious remedy and the proceeding was quashed.[3] The 2025 Alim Uddin and 2026 Bazlu judgments were also writ petitions that declared certificate proceedings without lawful authority.[4] [6]

The writ route is strongest where the claim is not a public demand, the requisition was defective, notice was never served or the officer lacked power; it is weakest where the debtor merely disputes the amount after ignoring the section 9 petition. The general principles on standing, alternative remedy, delay and interim stays are set out in our guide to writ petitions in Bangladesh, and our constitutional and writ litigation practice handles certificate challenges regularly.

Limitation under the Public Demands Recovery Act Bangladesh

Limitation enters a certificate case at three points. First, at the start: section 6 permits a requisition-based certificate only if the Certificate Officer is satisfied that recovery by suit is not barred by law, so a lender cannot use a certificate to revive a claim it could no longer sue on.[1] The Land Development Tax Act 2023 is an important exception, because it provides that a land development tax claim is never time-barred.[8]

Second, during execution: section 56 applies the Limitation Act 1908 to all proceedings under the Act as if a certificate were a civil court decree, but excludes sections 6 to 9 of the Limitation Act, which deal with legal disability and continuous running of time.[1]

Third, for challenges, the Act's own deadlines govern, namely thirty days for a section 9 petition, thirty or sixty days to set aside a sale, fifteen or thirty days to appeal, six months for a section 34 suit and one year for a section 36 suit.[1]

Certificate cases and the Artha Rin Adalat for state-owned banks

For state-owned banks, the Public Demands Recovery Act Bangladesh relies on and the Artha Rin Adalat Ain 2003 overlap. Section 5(5) of the 2003 Act makes the Artha Rin Adalat the forum for recovering financial institution loans even where they are public demands, but its proviso lets Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank and other state-owned financial institutions file claims of up to Tk 5 lakh as certificate cases.[2]

In Shahin Ikbal the borrower argued that the Artha Rin Adalat had exclusive jurisdiction and that the later special law prevailed. The High Court Division rejected the argument: the legislature had consciously given a choice of forum for claims not exceeding Tk 5 lakh, and the Certificate Officer's jurisdiction is in addition to, not in derogation of, the Artha Rin Adalat's.[3] The same case shows the cost for a borrower: a small loan was still in a certificate case twelve years later.

What this means in practice

• For borrowers: check the amount claimed at filing. A requisition above Tk 5 lakh by a state-owned bank belongs in the Artha Rin Adalat, and a private bank cannot use a certificate case at all.[2]
• For lenders: a certificate case is quicker to start, but a careless requisition invites a writ. Verify the amount and interest before signing.[3]

Larger bank claims, Artha Rin defences, classification and rescheduling are covered in separate TRW guides: the Artha Rin Adalat Ain 2003, how to defend a bank suit and the position of a loan defaulter. Our banking and finance litigation practice acts for lenders and borrowers in both forums.

Class action Bangladesh law: representative suits, public interest litigation and collective consumer claims

Certificate cases are individual proceedings, but many disputes about public money, land and services affect whole villages, groups of borrowers or thousands of consumers. Bangladesh has no general class action statute with opt-out classes and aggregate damages. Collective claims instead use three older routes: the representative suit, public interest litigation and consumer complaints. The choice decides who is bound and what relief is available.

Representative suits under Order I rule 8

Order I rule 8 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 allows one or more of numerous persons having the same interest in a suit, with the court's permission, to sue or be sued, or to defend, on behalf of or for the benefit of all persons so interested. The court must direct notice of the suit to those persons, by personal service or public advertisement, and any of them may apply to be made a party.[11] It is typically used for community rights over mosques, graveyards, bazaars and common pathways, and for suits by or against unincorporated associations.

The key requirement is a genuinely common interest, not merely a common grievance. Persons with separate contracts and separate losses, such as individual depositors or buyers, do not automatically share the same interest in the sense required. Permission must be obtained and notice given properly, because the binding effect on absent persons depends on it.

Explanation VI to section 11 of the Code provides that where persons litigate bona fide in respect of a public right or a private right claimed in common for themselves and others, all persons interested in that right are deemed to claim under them for the purposes of res judicata.[11] A poorly run representative suit can therefore extinguish the rights of people who never knew it existed.

Public nuisance and public charities

Two specialised group actions sit beside rule 8. Section 91 allows the Attorney General, or two or more persons with the Attorney General's written consent, to sue for a declaration, injunction or other relief in respect of a public nuisance, without proof of special damage. Section 92 applies the same consent requirement to suits by persons interested in a public charitable or religious trust.[11]

Public interest litigation

Where the wrong is done by a public authority, public interest litigation under article 102 has largely replaced the representative suit. The Appellate Division in the Flood Action Plan case of 1996 held that any member of the public suffering a common wrong or injury, or any citizen or association taking up the cause of an indeterminate group whose fundamental rights are affected, has standing. That built on Kazi Mukhlesur Rahman v Bangladesh, 26 DLR (AD) 44.[12]

A group of certificate debtors facing the same unlawful practice, such as proceedings on claims that are not public demands, can use the same route; the February 2026 Bazlu declaration, operating in rem, shows how a single writ can resolve the position of every similarly placed debtor.[4] Standing and the leading environmental cases are covered in our guide to environmental litigation in Bangladesh, which we do not repeat here.

Collective consumer claims

The Consumer Rights Protection Act 2009 provides an administrative complaint route to the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, a separate chapter on civil proceedings and remedies, and, under section 76, a rule giving the complainant a share of any fine collected.[13] The complaint route is individual: commentators note that a complaint must be filed within thirty days, that only the consumer may file, and that the complainant's reward is 25 per cent of the fine, and they have proposed allowing registered consumer associations to file on behalf of consumers.[14]

In practice, a collective consumer claim is assembled from parts: parallel complaints to prompt regulatory action, a representative suit for declaration and injunction where consumers share a common interest such as an unlawful levy, or a public interest writ to compel the Directorate or a sector regulator to act. Damages for each consumer still have to be proved individually. Our consumer protection practice advises businesses and consumer groups on which route fits.

Developments in 2025 and 2026

No statute has replaced the 1913 Act. The Acts of 2026 published by the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, which include the Commercial Courts Act 2026 and amendments to the Code of Civil Procedure and Civil Courts Act, contain no new public demands recovery law and no amendment of the Artha Rin Adalat Ain 2003.[10] The Public Demands Recovery Act Bangladesh practitioners know therefore remains in force, and the changes have come from the courts.

Cheque fines removed from certificate cases

On 15 February 2026, in Md Rezaul Karim Bazlu v Court of the General Certificate Officer, Dhaka, the High Court Division declared without lawful authority a certificate case started to recover a fine of Tk 1,10,40,000 imposed under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. Following Golam Morshed v Court of Executive Magistrate and General Certificate Officer, 20 BLC 120, it held that a criminal fine is not a public demand. Recovery lies through a warrant under section 386 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, with the Collector filing an execution case in the civil court.[4]

The court went further and declared that all certificate proceedings founded on Negotiable Instruments Act liabilities pending before District Collectors stand abated, with the declaration operating as a judgment in rem.[4] Our guide to cheque dishonour in Bangladesh explains the underlying offence.

Revisional orders and electronic certificate cases

The July 2025 Alim Uddin judgment requires revisional orders in certificate matters to be made by a properly constituted Land Appeal Board or a member with written delegation.[6] On the procedural side, the Land Development Tax Act 2023 expressly authorises certificate cases for arrears of land tax to be run electronically.[8]

Bank recovery reform

On 19 January 2026 the law ministry turned down a Bangladesh Bank draft Artha Rin Adalat Ordinance 2025 that would have replaced the 2003 Act, and asked a nine-member committee to identify targeted amendments instead.[9] Any amendment could change the Tk 5 lakh certificate window for state-owned lenders, so check the current text of section 5(5) before filing or defending.

Strategy for certificate holders and certificate debtors

Most certificate cases are decided by procedure rather than by argument about the debt. The points below reflect the issues that recur when the Public Demands Recovery Act Bangladesh revenue offices administer is tested in the High Court Division.

• Test jurisdiction first: confirm that the claim is a public demand, that the requisitioning body is entitled to use the Act and, for a state-owned bank, that the claim was within Tk 5 lakh when filed.[2] [5]
• Diary the thirty days: file a full section 9 petition, with every ground, within thirty days of service, or of the first execution process if service was defective.[1]
• Inspect the requisition: obtain certified copies of the requisition, verification and certificate, and compare the amount with loan statements and payments.[3]
• Use the right ladder: appeal within fifteen or thirty days, seek a stay expressly, and keep the section 34 suit and a writ petition in reserve for jurisdictional defects.[1] [3]

For certificate holders, the mirror image applies: a verified requisition, proper service and a correct interest calculation make a certificate very hard to dislodge. Civil court enforcement is covered in our guide to execution cases in Bangladesh. To review a certificate notice, requisition or sale, contact TRW.

Frequently asked questions

What is a certificate case in Bangladesh?

It is a proceeding under the Public Demands Recovery Act 1913 in which a Certificate Officer signs a certificate that a public demand is due and then enforces it by attachment, sale or civil detention, without a civil suit.[1]

Who can file a certificate case?

The Collector for demands payable to the Collector, and other persons entitled to a public demand listed in Schedule I by requisition under section 5. State-owned financial institutions may use it for loan claims up to Tk 5 lakh.[1] [2]

Can a private bank file a certificate case?

No. Section 5(5) of the Artha Rin Adalat Ain 2003 requires financial institution loans to be recovered in the Artha Rin Adalat, with a certificate option only for Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank and other state-owned institutions up to Tk 5 lakh.[2]

How long do I have to object to a certificate?

Thirty days from service of the section 7 notice, or from execution of process if the notice was not duly served, by a petition under section 9 denying liability. Certificates under section 10A follow a separate demand-notice procedure.[1]

Can I be arrested in a certificate case?

Yes, but only after a show-cause opportunity and recorded findings that you are obstructing execution or have the means to pay and refuse. Detention is capped at six months for demands above fifty taka, and women, minors and persons of unsound mind cannot be detained.[1]

Can I sell my land after receiving a certificate notice?

A private transfer of immovable property in the district after service of notice is void against claims enforceable under the certificate, and the debt becomes a charge on the debtor's land.[1]

Where do I appeal a Certificate Officer's order?

To the Collector within fifteen days, or, if the Collector made the order, to the Commissioner within thirty days. Revision lies further up the revenue hierarchy, and execution is stayed only if the appellate authority so directs.[1]

Can the High Court Division quash a certificate case?

Yes. It has quashed proceedings started on defective requisitions, on claims that were not public demands and on orders made without lawful authority, even where statutory appeals existed.[3] [4] [6]

Can a cheque dishonour fine be recovered by certificate case?

No. In February 2026 the High Court Division held that such a fine is not a public demand, directed recovery through section 386 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and declared pending certificate proceedings on such liabilities abated.[4]

Is there a class action procedure in Bangladesh?

There is no general class action statute. Group claims use representative suits under Order I rule 8 of the Code of Civil Procedure, suits under sections 91 and 92, public interest writs under article 102, and consumer complaints.[11] [12]