Why the right to safe water is Bangladesh’s new constitutional frontier.
On February 27, 2025, the High Court Division delivered a landmark judgment on Suo-Motu Rule 09/2020, a bench comprising Justice Md Ashraful Kamal and Justice Kazi Waliul Islam which declared that access to safe and potable water is an inherent component of the Right to Life under Article 32 of the Constitution.
This judicial pronouncement, published on January 1, 2026, signifies a paradigm shift in our legal landscape, moving water from the realm of social welfare to the status of an enforceable constitutional guarantee.
«Fundamental rights are the bedrock of a civilized society, serving as the ultimate protection against the arbitrary exercise of state power. Unlike ordinary legal rights, which can be modified or repealed by a simple act of parliament, fundamental rights are entrenched in the Constitution.
The elevation of safe water to a fundamental right makes it “justiciable.” This implies that any citizen, from a slum dweller in Dhaka to a farmer in the Barind tract, can approach the Supreme Court directly under Article 102 if the state fails to provide this basic necessity. It recognizes that certain conditions are so essential to human dignity that their absence constitutes a violation of the “right to life.” (…)
Citizens must understand that water is their right. If the tap is dry or the water is dark, the state is violating the Constitution. As we march toward the ten-year goal of universal safe water, let us remember that the strength of a nation is not found in its military or its currency, but in the health and vitality of its people.»
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Following this very positive step, we updated the status of Bangladesh on our world map for the human rights to water and sanitation from “No constitutional recognition” to “Constitution Status Implicit” (see here). Congratulations for this important step forward.
