TRW & Co · Courts and public law
How to File a Writ Petition in the High Court Division
Knowing how to file a writ petition starts with Article 102 of the Constitution: you apply to the High Court Division, as a person aggrieved, against a public authority's unlawful act or failure to act. For Chattogram businesses and landowners, the usual targets are CDA, port, customs and land acquisition decisions. This guide covers standing, the demand for justice, the Rule and stay orders.
Key pointMost writs are won or lost before filing: the court will ask whether a statutory appeal was available, whether the authority was asked to act first, and whether you moved promptly. A petition that answers those three questions on its face has a far better chance of a Rule and a stay.
At a glance
Constitutional remedy
Writs are issued only by the High Court Division under Article 102 of the Constitution, against the State, statutory bodies and others performing public functions.
Five kinds of writ
Mandamus, prohibition and certiorari need a person aggrieved and no equally efficacious remedy; habeas corpus and quo warranto may be sought by any person.
Demand for justice first
For mandamus, courts generally expect a written demand to the authority and a refusal or silence before the petition is filed.
Rule and interim stay
At the motion hearing the bench may issue a Rule Nisi asking the authority to show cause, often with a stay or status quo order.
Development work caution
Under Article 102(4), interim orders affecting development work or the public interest require reasonable notice to the Attorney-General first.
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The short answer: how to file a writ petition
If you want to know how to file a writ petition in Bangladesh, the short version is this: you apply to the High Court Division of the Supreme Court under Article 102 of the Constitution, through an advocate enrolled in that Division, with a sworn petition that names the public authority, the order or failure you challenge and the remedy you want. A bench hears it on "motion". If the petition raises an arguable case, the bench issues a Rule calling on the authority to show cause, often with a stay or other interim order. The Rule is later heard and made absolute or discharged.
For a Chattogram business, landowner or family, the decision under challenge is usually local: a Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) building permission, a Chittagong Port Authority tender or allotment, a Chattogram Custom House order, a land acquisition notice from the Deputy Commissioner's office, or a bank auction. The petition itself, however, is filed and heard at the Supreme Court in Dhaka. Proposals to set up permanent High Court benches in divisional cities, including Chattogram, were discussed during the 2025 reform process, so check the current position before you file.
This guide explains when a writ is the right tool, what has to happen before filing, how the process runs from petition to judgment, and the mistakes that most often sink otherwise good cases.
The legal framework: Article 102 and the five writs
The writ jurisdiction comes from Article 102 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. It is a constitutional remedy, not a statutory one, and the High Court Division alone exercises it. Understanding its structure is the first step in learning how to file a writ petition that will survive the motion hearing.
Enforcing fundamental rights: Article 102(1)
Under Article 102(1), on the application of a person aggrieved, the High Court Division may give directions or orders to any person or authority, including one performing functions in connection with the affairs of the Republic, to enforce the fundamental rights in Part III of the Constitution. Equality before the law, protection of law, freedom of profession or occupation and property rights are the ones most often invoked in commercial and land writs.
Mandamus, prohibition and certiorari: Article 102(2)(a)
Where the court is satisfied that no other equally efficacious remedy is provided by law, it may, on the application of a person aggrieved, direct a person performing public functions to do what the law requires (mandamus) or to refrain from doing what the law does not permit (prohibition). It may also declare that an act done or proceeding taken without lawful authority is of no legal effect (certiorari). Most business writs fall here.
Habeas corpus and quo warranto: Article 102(2)(b)
On the application of any person, not only a person aggrieved, the court may order that a person held in custody be brought before it so that it can satisfy itself that the detention is lawful (habeas corpus), or require a person holding a public office to show by what authority he claims to hold it (quo warranto).
Limits built into the Article
Article 102(3) bars orders in relation to laws protected by Article 47. Article 102(4) matters a great deal in Chattogram: where an interim order would prejudice or interfere with a measure designed to implement a development programme or development work, or would otherwise harm the public interest, the court must first give the Attorney-General reasonable notice and an opportunity to be heard. Port, road, flyover and land acquisition projects regularly trigger this rule. Under Article 102(5), "person" includes a statutory public authority and courts and tribunals, with exceptions for certain military courts and tribunals.
Who can file and against whom
Standing and the identity of the respondent decide many writs before the merits are reached. Anyone researching how to file a writ petition should test both questions first.
The "person aggrieved"
For mandamus, prohibition and certiorari, the petitioner must be a person aggrieved. A company whose tender bid was rejected, a landowner whose plot appears in an acquisition notice, an importer whose consignment is held, or a building owner whose approved plan has been cancelled will ordinarily qualify. Shareholders, directors and family members acting for an absent owner may need to explain why they, rather than the company or owner, are the proper petitioner.
Standing has been read broadly since the Appellate Division's 1996 decision in Mohiuddin Farooque v Bangladesh, which accepted that a citizen or association espousing a public cause may bring proceedings where a public wrong affects an indeterminate number of people. Environmental, river and hill-cutting cases from the Chattogram region often proceed as public interest litigation on that footing.
Public bodies, not private parties
Writs lie against the State, ministries, statutory bodies and persons performing functions in connection with the affairs of the Republic or a local authority. In Chattogram that typically means the Ministry concerned, the CDA, the Chittagong Port Authority, Chattogram City Corporation, the Deputy Commissioner and land offices, the Commissioner of Customs, BEPZA, BEZA and state-owned banks and utilities. A purely private dispute, such as a breach of contract between two companies, belongs in a civil court or arbitration instead. Our guide to civil suit procedure covers that route.
Before filing: alternative remedies, demand for justice and delay
Three preliminary questions shape how to file a writ petition successfully. Getting any of them wrong is the most common reason a petition is rejected summarily.
Is there another equally efficacious remedy?
Article 102(2) applies only where no other equally efficacious remedy is provided by law. If a statute gives an appeal, revision or tribunal, the court will usually expect you to use it. Customs disputes are the classic example: the customs appeal process under the Customs Act 2023 normally comes first. A writ may still lie where the authority acted wholly without jurisdiction, ignored natural justice, acted mala fide, or where the statutory remedy cannot realistically protect the petitioner in time. That argument has to be made expressly in the petition.
Demand for justice
For a writ of mandamus, the courts generally expect the petitioner to have asked the authority to perform its duty and to have met a refusal or silence. In practice this is done by a "demand for justice" notice served by an advocate, setting out the facts, the legal duty and the action demanded, and allowing a reasonable time for compliance. The notice also builds the record: the authority's reply, or its failure to reply, often becomes the key annexure.
Delay and laches
Article 102 sets no fixed limitation period, but unexplained delay can defeat a writ. The court asks whether the petitioner sat on its rights and whether third parties, such as allottees, purchasers or contractors, have acquired interests in the meantime. Move quickly once an adverse order is received and explain any gap in the petition.
Collect certified copies of the impugned order, the file notes you can obtain, and every letter you sent to the authority before you instruct counsel. In writ practice the petition is decided largely on annexures, and a single missing document can mean an adjournment while the other side's position hardens.
How to file a writ petition: the process step by step
Once the preliminary questions are answered, the procedure is driven by the High Court Division's rules and practice. The sequence below is typical; timing depends heavily on the bench's list and on whether the State contests interim relief.
- Review the decision and the facts. Your advocate examines the impugned order, the statute under which it was made, the alternative remedies and the delay, and decides which writ or writs to seek and whom to name as respondents.
- Serve a demand for justice where needed. For mandamus and many certiorari cases, a notice to the authority is served first, with time to respond. The reply or silence is annexed to the petition.
- Draft and swear the petition. The petition sets out the facts, grounds and prayers in numbered paragraphs, annexes the documents and is supported by an affidavit sworn by the petitioner or an authorised representative. Companies need a board resolution or authority for the deponent.
- File and serve notice on the Attorney-General's office. The petition is filed in the High Court Division's writ section, and advance notice is usually given to the Attorney-General's office, which represents government respondents, and to other respondents' advocates where known.
- Move the petition before the bench. The matter is listed before a bench with the relevant writ jurisdiction. At the motion hearing, the advocate seeks a Rule Nisi and any interim relief, such as a stay of the impugned order or a direction to maintain the status quo.
- Serve the Rule and exchange affidavits. If a Rule is issued, the respondents are served and may file an affidavit-in-opposition. The petitioner may file a supplementary affidavit or reply to answer new points.
- Hearing and judgment. When the Rule is ready, it is heard on the papers and argument. The bench either makes the Rule absolute, with directions, or discharges it. Interim orders usually fall away when a Rule is discharged.
- Appeal or compliance. The losing side may seek leave to appeal in the Appellate Division. The government often applies to the Appellate Division to stay a High Court Division order, so a winning petitioner should be ready for that hearing as well.
Daily cause lists and bench jurisdictions are published on the Supreme Court of Bangladesh website. Because the jurisdictions of benches change from time to time, a petition prepared in Chattogram must be checked against the current list before it is moved.
Typical Chattogram writs
Most writs arising from Chattogram follow a handful of patterns. Each has its own pressure points, and in each the question of how to file a writ petition is really a question of timing and evidence.
| Dispute | Typical respondent | Usual writ | Points to check first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building plan refused, suspended or cancelled | Chattogram Development Authority | Certiorari, mandamus | Reasons given, hearing afforded, any internal appeal, third-party complaints |
| Port tender, licence, berth or yard allotment | Chittagong Port Authority, Ministry of Shipping | Certiorari, prohibition | Tender conditions, procurement rules, standing of bidders, Article 102(4) public-interest notice |
| Customs hold, valuation or seizure | Commissioner, Chattogram Custom House | Mandamus, certiorari | Statutory appeal under the Customs Act 2023, jurisdictional error, delay in adjudication |
| Land acquisition notice or compensation | Deputy Commissioner, Chattogram; requiring body | Certiorari, mandamus | Notices served, objections lodged, statutory route for compensation disputes |
| Bank or Money Loan Court auction | Bank, Artha Rin Adalat | Certiorari | Statutory appeal and deposit rules, notices, valuation, whether the court acted without jurisdiction |
| Hill cutting, river encroachment, pollution | Department of Environment, CDA, Deputy Commissioner | Mandamus (often public interest) | Standing, evidence of harm, existing directions of the court |
Port concessions have themselves been the subject of high-profile writ litigation. A challenge to the process for engaging an operator for Chattogram port's New Mooring Container Terminal was pending before the High Court in early 2026 after a split verdict, which shows how long contested public-law cases can take.
For individual practice areas, see our pages on CDA building approvals, land acquisition compensation and customs disputes in Chattogram. Information on the authorities themselves is available from the CDA and the Chittagong Port Authority.
Writ, civil suit or statutory appeal: choosing the route
A writ is powerful but narrow. It reviews whether a public authority acted lawfully; it is not a full trial of disputed facts. Where the facts are seriously contested, for example over title to land or the terms of a private contract, the court will usually send the parties to a civil suit.
A civil suit in the Chattogram courts allows witnesses, documentary evidence and a temporary injunction, and it can resolve title. A statutory appeal is often quicker and keeps the dispute within the specialist system. A writ is strongest where the record itself shows the illegality: no notice, no hearing, no jurisdiction, an order made by the wrong officer, or a refusal to act on a clear statutory duty.
Many cases use more than one route in sequence. An importer may appeal a customs order and file a writ only if the appellate forum cannot act in time. A landowner may file objections under the acquisition law, then challenge the process by writ if the statutory steps were skipped.
An illustrative scenario
This scenario is illustrative only; the parties and facts are generic.
A trading company in Chattogram receives a letter cancelling its approved building plan for a warehouse on the Dhaka Trunk Road corridor. The letter cites a complaint by a neighbour but gives no reasons, and the company was never asked to respond. Construction is half complete, and the contractor is threatening to stop work.
The company's advocates first check whether the planning rules provide an internal review and whether it can be decided quickly. They then serve a demand for justice asking the authority to withdraw the cancellation or give a hearing, and allow a short period for reply. When no reply arrives, they file a writ petition seeking certiorari against the cancellation and an interim stay, annexing the approval, the cancellation letter, the notice and proof of service.
At the motion hearing, the bench issues a Rule and, after hearing the authority's lawyer, directs that the status quo be maintained while the Rule is pending. The company has not "won", but it has preserved its position while the authority answers the case. Whether the Rule is made absolute will depend on the record and the authority's answer.
Risks and common mistakes
Good writs fail for avoidable reasons. These are the problems we see most often when clients ask how to file a writ petition after a first attempt has gone wrong.
Filing when a statutory appeal is available
If the statute under which the order was made provides an appeal or tribunal, the bench will ask why it was not used. Unless the petition explains why that route is not equally efficacious, for example because the authority acted without jurisdiction or the appeal cannot be heard before irreversible harm occurs, the court may reject the petition summarily. Worse, time spent on the writ may have run down the deadline for the statutory appeal. Check both routes before filing, and preserve the appeal deadline in any event.
Disputed facts dressed up as a legal question
The writ court decides cases on affidavits. Where the core dispute is factual, such as who owns a plot, whether goods were misdeclared, or what was agreed between private parties, the court will generally decline to resolve it. Framing a title dispute as a challenge to a mutation order, for instance, rarely works. Identify the public-law error that the record proves on its face, and keep the factual disputes for the appropriate civil or statutory forum.
Missing parties and weak authority
A petition that does not name every necessary respondent, such as the requiring body in an acquisition case or the successful bidder in a tender challenge, may be adjourned or dismissed. Corporate petitioners must show that the deponent is authorised, ideally by a board resolution. Non-resident petitioners need a properly executed and authenticated power of attorney. Our NRB power of attorney guide explains the formalities for Bangladeshis abroad.
Relying on an interim order that later falls away
A stay obtained at the motion stage protects the petitioner only while it lasts. Interim orders may be limited in time, vacated on the authority's application, or stayed by the Appellate Division. Businesses sometimes continue construction or trading as if the stay were a final judgment and then face a larger loss. Treat an interim order as breathing space, not a result, and plan for the hearing of the Rule.
Writs for non-resident owners and foreign investors
Bangladeshis living in the UK, the Gulf or Singapore often discover a problem with their Chattogram property only when a relative calls about a notice. A writ can be filed through an attorney in Bangladesh, but the authority to sign and swear must be in place first, and the petitioner should be ready to provide documents quickly. Our page on running a court case from abroad sets out the practicalities.
Foreign investors in the export processing and economic zones occasionally need writs against regulatory decisions, for example on licences, utility connections or customs treatment. These cases often run in parallel with arbitration or treaty protections. TRW & Co's offices in Dhaka, Singapore, Dubai and London can coordinate the Bangladeshi writ with advice in the investor's home jurisdiction.
What to do next: a writ checklist
If you are deciding how to file a writ petition against a Chattogram authority, work through this list before your first meeting with counsel.
- Obtain the impugned order, notice or letter, and note the date you received it.
- Identify the statute and rules under which the authority acted, and any appeal or review they provide.
- Gather every document showing your interest: title deeds, approvals, licences, tender documents, import papers, correspondence.
- Record what you asked the authority to do and how it responded; consider a demand for justice.
- List everyone affected by the order, including third parties who may need to be named.
- Decide who will sign and swear the petition, and put corporate resolutions or powers of attorney in place.
- Assess what interim relief you need and what harm you will suffer without it.
TRW & Co's Bangladesh advocates prepare and move writ petitions in the High Court Division and advise on the statutory and civil alternatives. See our writ petition lawyer in Chittagong page and the overview of our law firm in Chittagong, or contact the Chattogram office at Room 4022, Annex 2, District and Sessions Judge Court Building, Court Hill (Porir Pahar), Kotwali, Chattogram 4000, by email at info@trw.co or on +880 1779 127165.
Frequently asked questions
01Can I file a writ petition in Chattogram?
Writ petitions are filed in the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, which sits in Dhaka. A Chattogram resident or business instructs an advocate enrolled in the High Court Division, who prepares the petition with the client's documents and moves it in Dhaka. Proposals for permanent High Court benches in divisional cities, including Chattogram, were discussed in the 2025 reform process, so check the current arrangements before filing. Most preparatory work, such as collecting documents and serving a demand for justice, can be done from Chattogram.
02What is a demand for justice notice?
It is a written notice, usually sent by an advocate, asking a public authority to perform its legal duty or withdraw an unlawful order, and giving it a reasonable time to respond. Courts generally expect such a demand before granting mandamus, because the writ compels an authority that has refused or failed to act. The notice and any reply are annexed to the petition. Even where not strictly required, a clear demand often strengthens the record and sometimes resolves the problem without litigation.
03How long does a writ petition take?
There is no fixed timetable. A petition can be moved within days of filing if it is urgent, and interim relief may be granted at that first hearing. Final hearing of the Rule can take months or years depending on the bench's list, whether the respondents file an affidavit-in-opposition and whether either side goes to the Appellate Division. Contested public-interest cases, such as challenges to port concessions, can take considerably longer than routine cases.
04What is a Rule Nisi?
A Rule Nisi is the High Court Division's order, made at the motion hearing, calling on the respondents to show cause why the relief sought should not be granted. It means the court considers the petition arguable. It is not a final decision. The respondents may answer by affidavit-in-opposition, and the Rule is later heard and either made absolute, granting relief, or discharged. Interim orders such as a stay are often made at the same time as the Rule.
05Can a writ be filed against a private company or bank?
Generally no, unless the body performs functions in connection with the affairs of the Republic or a local authority, or is a statutory public authority. State-owned banks, utilities and statutory corporations can be respondents. Purely private disputes, such as a contract claim against a private company, belong in a civil court or arbitration. Orders of courts and tribunals, including the Artha Rin Adalat, can sometimes be challenged by writ where they act without jurisdiction, but statutory appeals usually come first.
06Is there a time limit for filing a writ petition?
Article 102 sets no fixed limitation period, but the High Court Division can refuse relief for unexplained delay, particularly where third parties have acquired rights in the meantime, for example through an allotment, purchase or contract. A petition should explain any gap between the impugned decision and filing. If a statutory appeal is also available, remember that the appeal will usually have its own strict deadline, which continues to run while you consider the writ.
Sources and official materials
- Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh — Article 102 writ jurisdiction of the High Court Division
- Supreme Court of Bangladesh — Cause lists, bench jurisdictions and judgments
- Chattogram Development Authority — Planning and building approvals in Chattogram
- Chittagong Port Authority — Port tenders, allotments and terminal operations
- The Daily Star: Decentralising the High Court — Reform debate on permanent divisional High Court benches
- TBS News: NCT lease writ hearing deferred — Example of a Chattogram port writ in the High Court
General information only, current as at 2 November 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.
