Farooque v. Bangladesh

In 1995 Dr. Mohiuddin Farooque brought a suit against the government of Bangladesh for failing to protect the air and water from pollution, thus failing to uphold its duties under the Constitution. Particularly, the case centered around Article 32 which guaranteed a right to life. The Court ruled that this included a right to a life free from environmental hazards and ordered the government to adopt adequate measures to control pollution.

Background
Dr. Mohiuddin Farooque, the founder of the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association, brought a suit to the Supreme Court of Bangladesh seeking relief relating to the matter of control of industrial pollution in Bangladeshi waterways. The suit was filed under Article 102 of the Bangladeshi constitution, which requires a "person aggrieved" to initiate a suit.

Relevant Citation
Writ Petition No. 891 OF 1994.

Relevant Law and Principles

 * Article 32 of the Constitution of Bangladesh (Right to Life)
 * Precautionary Principle

Ruling
The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs and instructed the Minister of Industries to ensure that existing factories adopted measures to control pollution and that no new industrial units and factories were set up in Bangladesh without first arranging adequate and sufficient measures to control pollution.

Takeaways
Although directly concerning industrial pollution rather than climate change, this case established that the Right to Life under Article 32 of the constitution includes a Right to a Healthy Environment. This precedent opens the door to one avenue for future climate litigation in Bangladesh.

Links

 * Ecolex.org
 * ELAW, Court Ruling text