Transformation of constitutional discourse facilitated the judicialization of
politics which is a political weapon to sustain the power of ruling party in
shadow of legality in different countries at present. The way of using this
weapon is the judicial review power of higher court. It is a great weapon in the
hands of judges of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh that have been frequently
asked to resolve various public issues i.e. expression and religious liberties,
equal rights, privacy, freedoms, public policies pertaining to criminal justice,
property, trade and commerce, education, immigration, labour, and
environmental protection etc. In recent years, its application was expended in
political controversies even in some settled issues that can be treated as “megapolitics”.
Moreover, courts have played a significant role in policy making to
govern the state by applying judicial review. Nowadays, the courts frequently
interfere in policy-making processes either by its own motion or on the
application of ruling parties. This is the question whether it is a blessing or
alarming to uphold the constitutional spirit since the judiciary is called the
guardian of constitution. This article explores the recent trends of
judicialization of politics in Bangladesh. It also examines and illustrates the
various forms and manifestations of the judicialization of mega-politics through
recent examples drawn from leading case references. Finally this article seeks
to explore the impact of judicialization of politics in a democratic country like
Bangladesh.
