ARTICLE TEXT

The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh is the supreme law of the country and the source of every other law’s authority. Most law students know its structure. Fewer know its story. Here are ten facts worth remembering.

1. It was drafted by a committee of thirty-four

The Constituent Assembly, made up of members elected in the Pakistan elections of 1970, appointed a Constitution Drafting Committee on 11 April 1972. It had thirty-four members and was chaired by Dr Kamal Hossain, then Law Minister and thirty-five years old. It included only one woman, Begum Razia Banu. The committee met from 17 April to 3 October 1972.

2. The whole process took less than a year

The draft bill was placed before the Assembly on 12 October 1972. After debate and amendment, the Constitution was adopted on 4 November 1972. It came into force on 16 December 1972, the first anniversary of Victory Day. From the committee’s first meeting to commencement took eight months. India’s constitution-making, by comparison, took almost three years.

3. The original was written by hand

The authentic original is a handwritten and illuminated manuscript. The calligraphy is by A.K.M. Abdur Rouf, and the decorative artwork was produced by a team led by the painter Zainul Abedin, including Hashem Khan. The manuscript was presented to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 13 December 1972 and is kept at the Bangladesh National Museum.

4. Bengali wins

Article 153 provides that there are authentic texts in both Bengali and English, certified by the Speaker, and that in case of conflict between them the Bengali text prevails. For lawyers trained on the English text, this is a reminder that the English version is a translation of the law, not the law itself.

5. It began with 153 Articles in eleven Parts

The original Constitution had 153 Articles arranged in eleven Parts, together with schedules. Amendments have since added Articles with letters, such as 7A, 7B, 18A and 58B to 58E, so the Article count has grown without changing the final number. Article 153 is still the last.

6. Four principles, changed and restored

The 1972 Preamble and Article 8 set out four fundamental principles of state policy: nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism. Martial law changes in the late 1970s removed secularism and altered socialism. The Fifth Amendment case in 2010 declared those changes void, and the Fifteenth Amendment in 2011 formally restored the original four.

7. It has been amended seventeen times

The First Amendment, in 1973, made possible the trial of war criminals. The Seventeenth, passed on 8 July 2018 by 298 votes to none, extended the fifty reserved seats for women in Parliament for a further twenty-five years. The constitutional amendment bill to implement the July Charter, if passed, will be the Eighteenth.

8. Five amendments have been struck down, in whole or in part

The Supreme Court has invalidated all or part of the Eighth Amendment (1989), the Fifth Amendment (2010), the Thirteenth Amendment (2011, itself set aside on review in 2025), the Sixteenth Amendment (2017) and parts of the Fifteenth Amendment (2024). Few constitutions anywhere have seen so many amendments tested against a basic structure doctrine.

9. It has been suspended, but never replaced

Martial law was proclaimed in 1975 and again in 1982, and on each occasion the Constitution was partly suspended. Yet it was never abrogated, and in both cases civilian constitutional rule was eventually restored under the same document. Article 7A, inserted in 2011, now makes any attempt to abrogate or suspend the Constitution by unconstitutional means an offence.

10. The people voted on it in 2026

On 12 February 2026, alongside the general election, Bangladesh held a constitutional referendum on the July Charter, a package of forty-seven proposed reforms including changes to Article 70, judicial appointments and the caretaker government. The Charter was approved by 68.26 per cent of those voting. Turning that vote into constitutional text is the work now before Parliament.

A Closing Thought

The Constitution is fifty-four years old this December. It has been amended, suspended, defended in court and now put to a referendum. Whatever changes come next, the document drafted in 1972 remains the framework within which every argument about Bangladeshi law takes place.

Sources

1. Wikipedia, Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh (drafting committee and dates): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constituent_Assembly_of_Bangladesh
2. Wikipedia, Constitution of Bangladesh (handwritten original): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Bangladesh
3. Constitution of Bangladesh, Article 153, Bangladesh Laws: http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-367/section-24718.html
4. The Daily Star, 17th amendment of Bangladesh constitution passed (8 July 2018): https://www.thedailystar.net/country/17th-amendment-of-bangladesh-constitution-passed-today-1601986
5. Wikipedia, 2026 Bangladeshi constitutional referendum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Bangladeshi_constitutional_referendum