Editorial Desk :
When 24-year-old student leader Tanvir Hasan was allegedly taken from his Gazipur home by plainclothes men in August 2022, his family immediately petitioned the High Court for a writ of habeas corpus, seeking his production in court.
Two and a half years later, the case has yet to be substantively heard, and the police report remains pending. His mother, Rokeya Begum, still visits the court weekly in hope of news.
The family of Mohammad Zakir Hossain, a student leader, has been waiting far longer. Hossain was last seen on 3 April 2013. His brother, Ataur Rahman, said they first heard of his arrest via a television news scroll.
Flatmates later told the family that four or five plainclothes men, identifying themselves as law enforcement, took him from their Mohammadpur residence in a vehicle marked with a RAB-2 sticker.
The family lodged a general diary at Mohammadpur Police Station and inquired with the Detective Branch (DB) and RAB-2, but both denied custody. Over a decade later, Hossain’s fate remains unknown.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), on 6 December 2011 a group of madrasa students – Rubel Khan, Belayet Khan, Sobhan Khan, Fayez Hawlader, and Qayyum Munshi – were reportedly seized at Maligram market by men identifying themselves as DB officers. Eyewitnesses claimed the men were handcuffed and forcibly taken away.
Such cases are not rare in Bangladesh. Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) reports that more than 600 people have been subjected to enforced disappearance since 2009.
Families often file habeas corpus petitions under Article 102 of the Constitution, which requires authorities to produce the missing person in court. However, many petitions remain unresolved for years.
Habeas corpus is intended as an urgent safeguard against unlawful detention, compelling authorities to justify the detention or release the individual.
Yet, as these cases show, courts often accept blanket denials from agencies such as the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), DB, or local police, even where credible eyewitness evidence points to their involvement.
Legal experts say the mechanism has been weakened by judicial delays, non-cooperation from law enforcement, and political sensitivities.
Senior Supreme Court lawyer Panir Mahmud explained that in most disappearance cases, agencies deny involvement. The court issues a rule nisi (requiring an explanation), but when police fail to respond or delay their report, the petition loses momentum.
A High Court Division review found that under 10 per cent of habeas corpus petitions related to enforced disappearances were resolved through hearings between 2015 and 2024. Most remain pending or are closed without satisfactory answers, often citing lack of evidence.
Courts usually seek responses from implicated agencies, but these are almost always denials, which judges often accept without ordering further inquiry.
Even when rule nisi orders are issued, compliance is far from guaranteed. Law enforcement often ignores deadlines for submitting reports, with no effective sanctions imposed.
The court lacks an enforcement arm, leaving it dependent on the same agencies accused of wrongdoing. In Zakir Hossain’s case, despite affidavits and eyewitness accounts, there was no independent investigation or contempt action, and the case stalled.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), in its 2022 report Justice Adrift, warned that judicial appointments and promotions in Bangladesh are often politicised, undermining independence.
According to rights group Odhikar, more than 700 people were victims of enforced disappearance between 2009 and 2024.
After the Interim Government formed a five-member commission in 2025, the number rose to 1,752, with some victims later found alive and others discovered dead.
As the High Court goes into recess once more, dozens of families wait outside – some clutching photographs, others holding back tears – with little hope of progress. For them, the constitutional promise of habeas corpus remains unfulfilled.
In cases like those of Tanvir, Zakir, and the Maligram students, justice delayed feels like justice denied – and justice denied feels like yet another disappearance.
