Contempt of Court in Bangladesh: High Court Rules, Act of 2013 & Enforcement Guide

In Bangladesh, the rule of law collapses if executive officers or private citizens can ignore judicial decrees with impunity. The judicial power to enforce obedience is grounded in Article 108 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, which designates the Supreme Court as a Court of Record with all the powers of such a court, including the power to make an order for the investigation of or punishment for any contempt of itself.

Subordinate civil and criminal courts derive their contempt referral powers through the Contempt of Courts Act 2013 (Act No. XXIV of 2013), which repealed the archaic Contempt of Courts Act 1926. While Parliament introduced certain provisions attempting to immunize civil servants in 2013, the High Court Division subsequently declared Sections 11 and 13(2) unconstitutional, affirming that no bureaucrat, minister, or police officer is above the contempt jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

Contempt proceedings are quasi-criminal in character. While the objective is coercive (compelling obedience to the court's decree), the proceedings can culminate in penal incarceration, making strict procedural compliance essential for both petitioners and respondents.

The law draws an essential boundary between two distinct forms of contempt:

• Civil Contempt: Defined as the wilful disobedience to any judgment, decree, direction, order, writ, or other process of a court, or a wilful breach of an undertaking given to a court. Typical examples include a municipal authority demolishing a building in defiance of a status quo order, a police officer refusing to execute a court bail directive, or an employer refusing to reinstate an employee after a High Court writ judgment.
• Criminal Contempt: Defined as the publication (whether by words, spoken or written, or by signs or visible representations) of any matter or the doing of any other act whatsoever which: (i) scandalizes or tends to scandalize, or lowers or tends to lower the authority of any court; (ii) prejudices, or interferes or tends to interfere with, the due course of any judicial proceeding; or (iii) interferes or tends to interfere with, or obstructs or tends to obstruct, the administration of justice.

While Civil Contempt is instituted by private aggrieved litigants to enforce private remedies, Criminal Contempt can be initiated on the motion of the Attorney General, the court itself, or by private citizens with court leave.

In subordinate civil courts (such as Assistant Judge or Joint District Judge Courts), disobedience of temporary injunction orders is governed by a specialized statutory remedy: Order 39 Rule 2A of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 (CPC) (inserted by civil procedure amendments).

Under Order 39 Rule 2A, in case of disobedience to any injunction granted under Rule 1 or Rule 2, or breach of any of the terms on which the injunction was granted, the court may:

1. Order Attachment of Property: The court may order the movable or immovable property of the guilty party to be attached. Such attachment remains in force for up to one year, after which, if disobedience continues, the property may be sold and compensation awarded to the injured party.
2. Civil Imprisonment: The court may order the guilty person to be detained in civil prison for a term not exceeding six (6) months, unless in the meantime the court directs their release upon purging the contempt.

Filing an application under Order 39 Rule 2A directly before the trial judge who issued the injunction provides immediate localized pressure without having to move the High Court Division.

A fundamental prerequisite established by Supreme Court practice before filing a Contempt Petition is the service of a formal Advocate's Contempt Demand Notice. Because contempt requires proof of wilful and deliberate disobedience, establishing that the contemnor possessed unequivocal, verified knowledge of the court order is vital.

The service protocol involves three essential steps:

• Service of Certified Order Copy: The advocate prepares a formal notice attaching a certified copy of the injunction, stay order, or writ judgment.
• Explicit Recital of Violative Acts: The notice details the precise violative actions committed by the respondent, cites the operative parts of the judicial order, and demands immediate cessation and compliance within seven (7) to fifteen (15) days.
• Verified Delivery Tracking: The notice must be served via registered post with acknowledgment due (AD), hand delivery with an official receipt seal, or courier, ensuring that postal tracking receipts are preserved as primary evidence for the contempt petition.

The procedural trajectory of contempt of court litigation in Bangladesh:

When a writ order, ad-interim direction, or judgment passed by the High Court Division under Article 102 is flouted by a government department or private individual, the petition is styled as a Contempt Petition (Civil Contempt).

Key procedural dimensions of High Court contempt include:

• Bench Jurisdiction: Under Supreme Court internal assignment rules, a Contempt Petition must generally be moved before the exact Division Bench that passed the original order, or its successor bench assigned by the Chief Justice of Bangladesh.
• Issuance of Contempt Rule: Upon hearing the advocate and reviewing evidence of deliberate violation, the bench issues a Contempt Rule calling upon the named contemnors (e.g. Deputy Commissioner, SP, City Corporation Chief Engineer, or private adversary) to show cause why they should not be penalized.
• Direction for Personal Appearance: In aggravated instances of defiance, the High Court issues a peremptory order directing the contemnor to appear physically in person before the bench on a designated date to stand in the court dock. The humiliation of being summoned to the Supreme Court dock frequently compels administrative agencies to comply overnight.

Under Section 5 of the Contempt of Courts Act 2013, the statutory punishments for contempt of court are clearly delineated:

1. Simple Imprisonment: A person found guilty of contempt of court may be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to six (6) months.
2. Monetary Fine: The court may impose a fine extending up to two thousand (2,000) BDT, or both imprisonment and fine.
3. Civil Attachment and Custody: In civil contempt cases under Order 39 Rule 2A CPC, property attachment remains valid for up to one year, coupled with detention in civil prison.
4. Mandatory Invalidation of Violative Acts: Crucially, the Supreme Court has ruled that any act done in violation of a court order is void ab initio. If a building is constructed in breach of an injunction, the court can direct police to demolish the structure; if property is sold in violation of a status quo, the sale deed is null and void.

When defending an individual or official accused of contempt, an advocate can raise established legal defenses under the Act:

• Lack of Notice or Ambiguous Order: Demonstrating that the court order was never legally served, was worded ambiguously, or admitted of two reasonable interpretations where the respondent acted in good faith.
• Impossibility of Performance: Demonstrating that physical compliance was objectively impossible due to supervening events or statutory legal bars beyond the respondent's control.
• Fair Criticism of Judicial Acts: Under Section 6 of Act No. XXIV of 2013, fair comments on the merits of any decided case or administrative acts of judges do not constitute criminal contempt.
• Purging Contempt via Unconditional Apology: Under the proviso to Section 5, the accused contemnor may be discharged or the punishment remitted on an unconditional apology being tendered to the satisfaction of the court. The apology must be submitted at the earliest opportunity, demonstrate genuine remorse, and be accompanied by complete rectification of the violative act. An insincere, conditional, or belated apology will be rejected by the judges.

Illustrative scenario (composite; names and details changed): A commercial building owner in Uttara, Dhaka, obtained an Ad-Interim Stay Order from the High Court Division restraining a municipal development corporation from demolishing a licensed commercial annex. Two weeks later, a zonal executive officer accompanied by demolition bulldozers arrived on site, claiming verbal orders from superiors, and began breaking boundary walls.

The property owner contacted Advocate Md. Shah Alam's chamber. Our litigation team acted swiftly:

1. Served an emergency Hand-Delivery Contempt Notice with the certified High Court stay order directly on the site magistrate and police officer, documenting the delivery via video recording.
2. Drafted and filed an emergency Contempt Petition under Article 108 of the Constitution before the Division Bench of the High Court Division the following morning, producing photographic evidence of the bulldozers operating in defiance of the stay.
3. The High Court Division took immediate judicial notice, issuing a Contempt Rule Nisi and passing a peremptory direction ordering the Zonal Executive Magistrate and Officer-in-Charge to appear physically before the bench within 48 hours.
4. Appearing in the Supreme Court dock, the contemnors faced imminent imprisonment. The officials submitted an unconditional written apology, undertook to reconstruct the damaged boundary walls at state expense, and withdrew all demolition machinery immediately.
5. The High Court accepted the apology on condition of full restitution, successfully preserving the client's commercial property permanently.

Enforcing court orders against recalcitrant government authorities or defending against contempt allegations in Bangladesh requires decisive advocacy before subordinate courts and the Supreme Court. Advocate Md. Shah Alam and his dedicated team of Supreme Court advocates provide prompt representation before trial courts, the High Court Division, and Appellate Division.

Our principal chamber is located in Uttara, Dhaka, minutes from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, alongside our daily litigation chamber at the Supreme Court Bar Association and Dhaka Judge Court.

The constitutional authority resides in Article 108 of the Constitution of Bangladesh, which designates the Supreme Court as a Court of Record with all inherent powers to punish for contempt of itself.

Civil contempt involves wilful disobedience of court judgments, orders, writs, or undertakings. Criminal contempt involves acts or publications that scandalize the court, lower judicial authority, or obstruct justice.

Under Section 5 of the Contempt of Courts Act 2013, the court can impose simple imprisonment for up to six (6) months, a monetary fine up to 2,000 BDT, or both.

An Advocate's Contempt Notice is a formal legal demand served on the violator attaching certified court orders and demanding compliance within 7 to 15 days, providing essential proof of wilful disobedience.

Yes. Under Section 5 proviso of the Act, if the court is satisfied that the contemnor has tendered a sincere, bona fide unconditional apology at the earliest stage and rectified the violation, it may remit the punishment.

Under Order 39 Rule 2A CPC, subordinate civil courts can order the attachment of the violator's property for up to one year and sentence the person to civil imprisonment for up to six months.

Yes. Under Supreme Court rulings declaring civil servant exemptions unconstitutional, all public officials, police officers, and bureaucrats are fully amenable to contempt prosecution and imprisonment.

Yes. An overseas litigant whose court order is being violated in Bangladesh can instruct a Supreme Court advocate through a local attorney or relative to file and move a Contempt Petition in Dhaka.