TRW & Co · Courts and civil disputes
Temporary Injunctions: Stopping a Sale or Construction Quickly
The temporary injunction Bangladesh courts grant under Order XXXIX of the Code of Civil Procedure can stop a sale, transfer or construction while your suit runs. You must file a suit and show a prima facie case, a favourable balance of convenience and a risk of irreparable loss. In urgent cases the court can make an ad interim or status quo order the same day.
Key pointCourts rarely restrain someone in settled possession under a registered deed, mutation and rent receipts. An injunction works best against an imminent change, a transfer, demolition or construction, backed by a precise property schedule and prompt action.
At a glance
Order XXXIX rules 1 and 2
Applications are made under Order XXXIX rules 1 and 2 read with section 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure, alongside a pending suit.
Three tests
The court weighs a prima facie case, the balance of convenience and inconvenience, and the likelihood of irreparable loss or injury.
Same-day protection
Where delay would defeat the purpose, courts can grant an ad interim order or direct status quo pending a full hearing.
Appeal then revision
Orders granting or refusing an injunction go on miscellaneous appeal to the District Judge's courts, then civil revision in the High Court Division.
Breach has teeth
Under Order XXXIX rule 2(3), the court may attach the property of a person who disobeys and order detention in the civil prison.
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The short answer: how a temporary injunction works
The temporary injunction Bangladesh civil courts grant is an interim order, made under Order XXXIX rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, that stops a sale, transfer, construction or dispossession while a suit is pending. To get one you must already have filed a suit, or file it the same day, and show three things: a prima facie case, a balance of convenience in your favour, and a risk of irreparable loss if the order is refused.
Where the threat is immediate, the court can make an ad interim order or direct the parties to maintain status quo until it hears both sides. Orders can be challenged by miscellaneous appeal and then by civil revision in the High Court Division. Disobeying an injunction is serious: the court can attach property and order detention in the civil prison.
This article explains the tests, the procedure in the Chattogram civil courts, the different kinds of interim order, and the mistakes that most often cost applicants their relief.
The legal framework
Injunctions come from two statutes. The Specific Relief Act 1877 governs permanent injunctions, granted by decree at the end of a suit, and leaves temporary injunctions to the Code of Civil Procedure. Order XXXIX of the Code then sets out when and how a temporary injunction may be granted. Applications are usually made under Order XXXIX rules 1 and 2 read with section 151, the court's inherent power.
Rule 1 broadly covers property in dispute that is in danger of being wasted, damaged or alienated, or a defendant threatening to dispose of property to defeat creditors or to dispossess the plaintiff. Rule 2 covers restraining a breach of contract or other injury. Rule 2(3) provides the sanction for disobedience.
The three tests
The High Court Division restated the tests in Civil Revision No. 5680 of 2023, decided on 17 August 2025: the court must consider (i) the prima facie case, (ii) the balance of convenience and inconvenience, and (iii) the likelihood of irreparable loss or injury. In that case the court refused to restrain a defendant from land he had bought by registered deed, mutated and paid rent on, because granting an injunction against land in his possession would be inequitable.
- Prima facie case: a serious question to be tried, supported by documents such as deeds, khatians, mutation records and agreements.
- Balance of convenience: which side would suffer more if the court got the interim decision wrong.
- Irreparable loss: harm that money cannot properly repair, such as the sale of a unique plot to a third party or demolition of a building.
Conditions, undertakings and duration
Courts have a wide discretion over the terms of an injunction. They may limit it to part of the property, allow the defendant to continue some activity, or attach conditions, such as an expedited hearing of the suit. In commercial matters, an applicant may be asked to give an undertaking or security so that the defendant can be compensated if the injunction later proves unjustified.
A temporary injunction normally lasts until the suit is decided, but the court can vary or vacate it at any time if circumstances change, if the applicant delays the suit, or if it emerges that material facts were hidden. An injunction is therefore something to maintain, not just to win.
Ad interim orders, status quo and full injunctions
The temporary injunction Bangladesh practice recognises comes in several forms, and choosing the right request matters. The table compares the main options.
| Order | When it is used | Duration | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ad interim injunction | Urgent threat before the other side can be heard | Until the application is heard | Granted on limited material; can be vacated quickly |
| Status quo order | Court wants to freeze the position while it hears both sides | Until further order | Can be ambiguous unless the existing position is recorded |
| Temporary injunction | After hearing both sides on the three tests | Until the suit is decided or the order varied | Appealable; must be obeyed meanwhile |
| Mandatory interim order | Rare cases requiring a party to do something, such as restore access | As ordered | Courts grant it sparingly |
| Permanent injunction | Final relief by decree | Indefinite | Requires a full trial |
Status quo orders are common in Chattogram and in the High Court Division. In Civil Revision No. 4957 of 2024, decided on 19 May 2025, the High Court Division, finding that neither side feared imminent dispossession, disposed of the revision by directing the parties to maintain status quo as to possession and directing the trial court to dispose of the suit as early as possible.
How to apply in the Chattogram civil courts
The temporary injunction Bangladesh practice uses is procedurally simple, but small errors are costly. The steps below show the usual route for an application in a Chattogram civil court. The same approach applies, with adjustments, in the new commercial courts.
- Assess the threat. Pin down what is about to happen and when: a deed registration, a handover, a demolition, a boundary wall. Evidence of imminence, such as a sale advertisement or site photographs, carries weight.
- File the suit. A temporary injunction is ancillary to a suit. File a plaint seeking the main relief, often declaration and permanent injunction, with the correct court fee in the court with jurisdiction.
- File the application. File an application under Order XXXIX rules 1 and 2 read with section 151, supported by affidavit and documents, describing the property precisely by mouza, plot and khatian.
- Seek an ad interim order or status quo. Ask the court to hear the matter the same day where delay would defeat the object, and to grant an ad interim order or status quo pending hearing.
- Serve and hear. The defendant files a written objection. The court hears both sides on the three tests and grants, refuses or modifies the injunction.
- Record and serve the order. Obtain a certified copy promptly and serve it on the defendant and, where relevant, on the sub-registry, developer or contractor.
- Monitor compliance. Photograph the site and keep records. If the order is breached, apply under Order XXXIX rule 2(3) without delay.
Describe the property exactly. An injunction over "the land at Bayazid" is hard to enforce; one that names the mouza, plot numbers, khatian and boundaries, with a sketch map, is not. Vague schedules are a common reason injunctions fail when it matters.
Violation: what happens if someone disobeys
A temporary injunction Bangladesh courts have granted is a binding court order, and breaching it carries real consequences. Under Order XXXIX rule 2(3), the court may order the property of a person who disobeys to be attached and may order detention in the civil prison. In one 2025 matter arising from Civil Revision No. 2850 of 2024, the High Court Division issued a rule asking the opposite parties to show cause why they should not be detained in civil prison for breaching its earlier order.
Separately, a transfer or construction carried out in breach of an injunction is vulnerable to challenge in the suit itself. Buyers who take a transfer in the teeth of an injunction take a serious risk. For applicants, the lesson is to serve the order widely and act fast on any breach.
Urgent relief in commercial disputes
The temporary injunction Bangladesh courts grant is not only a land remedy. Businesses use it to stop the encashment of a disputed guarantee in limited circumstances, the transfer of shares in breach of a shareholders' agreement, the use of confidential information, or a counterparty's disposal of goods. The tests are the same, but the evidence is commercial: contracts, board minutes, correspondence and accounts.
Since the Commercial Courts Act 2026 was passed on 7 April 2026, defined commercial disputes go to the new commercial courts; the official cause-list portal lists two for Chattogram Metropolitan and one for the district. Where parties have agreed to arbitrate, the Arbitration Act 2001 allows courts to grant interim measures in support of the arbitration. Our commercial litigation team advises on the right forum for urgent business relief.
Illustrative scenario: stopping construction by a developer
Illustrative only; the parties are generic. Three co-heirs of a plot in Chattogram learn that a fourth heir has signed a development agreement and that a developer has started piling. They have a succession certificate, the latest khatian in all four names, and photographs of the site.
Their advocate files a partition suit with a prayer for permanent injunction, and an application under Order XXXIX. The court directs status quo the same day and fixes a hearing. At the hearing the developer argues it has paid substantial sums. The court finds a prima facie case of co-ownership, that the balance of convenience favours preserving the land, and that construction would cause irreparable loss, and grants a temporary injunction against further work until the suit is decided. The developer's remedy, if any, lies against the heir who signed. See our construction disputes page for the developer's side.
A temporary injunction Bangladesh-wide: owners abroad and family property
Many injunction applications in Chattogram are made by, or against, family members living abroad. A common pattern is an heir in the UK, the Gulf or Singapore who learns that a relative has agreed to sell or develop inherited land. The temporary injunction Bangladesh courts grant works the same way for a non-resident, but the logistics need planning.
A non-resident can act through an attorney appointed by a power of attorney executed abroad and attested at a Bangladesh mission. The plaint and application need affidavits, so the attorney or a co-plaintiff in Bangladesh often swears them. Documents such as succession certificates, khatians and mutation records should be gathered in advance, because certified copies take time to obtain.
Speed matters most. By the time a relative abroad hears about piling on the site, the developer may already have paid money and started work, which affects the balance of convenience. Our offices in London, Dubai and Singapore help NRB clients assemble papers quickly, and our land team in Chattogram files the suit and application.
What the court will want to see
- Evidence of title or co-ownership: deeds, khatians, mutation records and succession documents.
- Evidence of the threat: sale advertisements, agreements, photographs, letters or witness statements.
- A precise schedule of the property with mouza, plot, khatian and boundaries.
- An explanation of any delay in coming to court.
- Disclosure of any earlier case or agreement concerning the same property.
Applicants who prepare this material before filing give the court what it needs to act the same day. Those who do not often leave with a date for a hearing and no protection in the meantime, which is exactly what the temporary injunction Bangladesh procedure is designed to avoid.
Common mistakes that cost applicants relief
Delay
Courts are slow to protect a party who waited. If you knew of the threat for months and acted only when the building was half-built, the balance of convenience may tilt against you. Move as soon as the threat is real, and explain any delay in the affidavit with dates and reasons.
Seeking to restrain someone in settled possession
As Civil Revision No. 5680 of 2023 shows, courts are reluctant to restrain a defendant from land he holds under a registered deed, mutation and rent receipts. If the other side is in possession, consider whether your suit needs a prayer for recovery of possession, and whether the injunction you seek is really aimed at stopping transfer or construction rather than ousting the occupant.
Suppressing facts
An applicant must come to court with clean hands. Hiding an earlier suit on the same land, an existing agreement or the other side's possession can lead to the order being vacated and to costs. Since 2025, compensatory costs for false or vexatious claims can reach Tk 50,000. Disclose the weak points and deal with them.
Forgetting the appeal clock
An order granting or refusing a temporary injunction can be challenged by miscellaneous appeal to the District Judge's courts, and then by civil revision in the High Court Division. Both have time limits. Ask on the day of the order what the deadline is, and obtain the certified copy immediately, because time often runs while it is being prepared.
Checklist and next steps
- Write down what is about to happen, when, and how you know.
- Collect title documents, khatians, mutation records, agreements and photographs.
- Prepare a precise schedule of the property with a sketch map.
- Identify every person to restrain: the owner, buyer, developer and contractor.
- File the suit and the application together, and ask for ad interim relief or status quo if the threat is immediate.
- Serve the order widely and document any breach.
The temporary injunction Bangladesh courts grant is often the most important order in a dispute, because it decides what happens while the case runs. Our injunction team files urgent applications in the Chattogram courts, and our advocates take revisions to the High Court Division. Where a public body is the problem, a writ petition may be the better route. For the wider process, read how a civil suit works or visit our Chattogram office page. To discuss an urgent matter, use the contact page, email info@trw.co or call +880 1779 127165.
Frequently asked questions
01How quickly can I get a temporary injunction in Chattogram?
If the threat is immediate and the papers are ready, the court can hear an application the day it is filed and grant an ad interim order or status quo pending a full hearing. The full hearing follows after the defendant has had a chance to object. Speed depends on preparation: a plaint, an application with affidavit, a precise property schedule and supporting documents should all be filed together.
02Can I get an injunction without filing a suit?
Generally no. A temporary injunction under Order XXXIX is interim relief in a pending suit, so the suit must be filed first or at the same time. Different routes apply in some situations: courts can grant interim measures in support of arbitration under the Arbitration Act 2001, and the High Court Division can make interim orders in writ petitions against public authorities.
03What is the difference between status quo and injunction?
A status quo order directs the parties to keep things as they are, often while the court hears both sides. A temporary injunction specifically restrains a party from doing something, such as selling, transferring or building, until the suit is decided. Status quo orders can be ambiguous unless the existing position is recorded, so applicants should ask the court to describe it clearly.
04What happens if someone violates an injunction order?
The injured party can apply under Order XXXIX rule 2(3). The court may order the property of the person who disobeyed to be attached and may order their detention in the civil prison. Acts done in breach, such as a transfer, are also vulnerable to challenge. Act quickly, with photographs, documents and witnesses, and make sure the order was properly served.
05Can an injunction stop the registration of a sale deed?
An injunction can restrain the owner from selling or transferring the property, and applicants often serve the order on the relevant sub-registry so that officials are aware of it. Whether and how a sub-registrar acts on an order depends on its terms and on registration law, so the order should be drafted and served carefully. A buyer who takes a transfer in breach of an injunction takes a serious risk.
06Can I appeal against an injunction order?
Yes. An order granting or refusing a temporary injunction can be challenged by miscellaneous appeal before the District Judge's courts, and the appellate order can then be challenged by civil revision in the High Court Division. Each step has a limitation period. While a challenge is pending, the original order must be obeyed unless a higher court stays it, so do not treat filing an appeal as permission to act.
Sources and official materials
- Code of Civil Procedure 1908 — Order XXXIX temporary injunctions and section 151
- Specific Relief Act 1877 — Permanent injunctions and the link to the Code
- High Court Division, Civil Revision No. 5680 of 2023 — Three tests for a temporary injunction (17 August 2025)
- High Court Division, Civil Revision No. 4957 of 2024 — Status quo direction pending disposal (19 May 2025)
- High Court Division, Order XXXIX rule 2(3) rule in Civil Revision No. 2850 of 2024 — Rule issued for breach of a court order
- Supreme Court of Bangladesh — Civil revisions and judgments
General information only, current as at 27 October 2026. It is not legal advice and does not create an advocate–client relationship. It reflects the law of Bangladesh unless stated otherwise, and the law, court practice and official fees change frequently. Check current official sources and take advice on the facts of your matter.
