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not available Dhaka University Law Journal, Vol. 32(1), 2021 P.55-72

While dc drive is supplied from ac utility, ac to dc conversion can be achieved by using ac-dc converter. But this conversion is affected by harmonics causing high Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) which suffers from the fact that the performance of dc drive gets affected. Harmonic mitigation of the input side voltage of dc drives can be achieved up to a notable range by using single tuned passive filter. In this paper, harmonics developed in case of three phase ac-dc converter based self-excited dc shunt motor is analyzed and also with a view to achieving prominent improvement in THD which is less than 10% according to IEEE standards 519–1992, single tuned passive filter is initialized. The simulation setup of this work using single tuned passive filter demonstrates the significant improvement of THD in comparison with the simulation arrangement without using filter. Moreover, the comparative analysis of speed of self-excited de shunt motor with and without single tuned passive filter is a major concern of this work with reduced THD without trading off much of the speed.

Based on a majoritarian notion of national identity and ‘constitutional patriotism’, Bangladesh’s Constitution of 1972 refuted the indigenous identity claims. Subsequent developments have somewhat addressed, albeit inadequately, the concerns of injustice arising from this exclusion. Examining the constitutional and judicial narratives, the chapter analyses the legal specialty of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and its demand for constitutional recognition from the perspective of inclusive constitutionalism. The central argument is that exclusion of diverse ethnic groups during the founding moment constituted a genetic defect in the Bangladesh constitution, which is not yet fully removed, though the recent constitutional amendment signals a change in the state’s hegemonic attitude. Adoption of an accommodationist approach by Bangladesh towards the indigenous people, ensuring a meaningful inclusion of Chittagong Hill Tracts people within the unitary constitutional framework, is both possible and a constitutional imperative.

Many modern constitutions today contain what is called eternity clauses (also known as constitutional entrenchment), which make one or more constitutional provisions unamendable. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh (hereafter ‘the Constitution’) originally did not enact any such eternity clause. An eternity clause, however, has been entrenched in 2011 through the 15th amendment to the Constitution. Long before the enactment of the eternity clause, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in a 1989 famous decision established the basic structure doctrine or the idea of ‘unconstitutional constitutional amendment’, ruling that Parliament lacks authority to amend the Constitution in a way that would destroy its basic structure. By invoking the basic structure doctrine, the Supreme Court has so far struck down 4 out of 16 constitutional amendments with finality. After the Court handed down its annulment decision in May 2011 invalidating the 13th amendment, the Constitution was amended to enact, among others, an extraordinarily wide eternity clause, article 7B. With this, Bangladesh became the second country in South Asia, after Afghanistan, to have constitutional entrenchment.

The issue of inclusiveness with reference to the judiciary is somewhat tricky in the sense that, unlike in the case of parliament or the executive, an inclusive judiciary may not necessarily mean the formal inclusion of “others” in the decision-making process. Inclusive judicial governance, nevertheless, requires a judicial system that should be not only internally diverse or representative but also functionally inclusive, protecting the minorities or those who are marginalized or remain excluded in society. It also means the wider public’s access to the justice system. A society cannot be equal without equal access to justice. While a diverse judiciary is inevitable for the establishment of a rule of law that is inclusive, an accessible judiciary is even more important to allow the justice system to reach out to the most disadvantaged people or to prevent minorities from being more marginalized. An inclusive judiciary also refers to the idea of an able and willing judiciary that will enforce the rules to ensure inclusiveness in the other two organs of the State. Although the Supreme Court has handed down certain important decisions that will promote inclusive governance generally, a discourse on inclusive judiciary has yet to emerge in Bangladesh. This chapter seeks to address this gap, albeit not comprehensively, by focusing on the inclusivity function of Bangladesh’s superior courts. The analysis is centered around three specific areas of judicial activity—attainment of social justice for marginalized people, participation of women in governance, and the protection of indigenous peoples’ autonomy or cultural diversity.

The court cannot invalidate an original provision of a constitution even if that be “unsuitable" or "outdated". The job of changing an outdated constitutional system belongs to “the people” on whose behalf parliament can amend the constitution, to hold the needs of the modern time. By examining a decision of the Bangladeshi Supreme Court (High Court Division), this work-in-progress argues that theories of constitutional supremacy and popular sovereignty require the judges to apply the doctrine of ‘unconstitutional constitutional amendment’ extremely cautiously and rarely, and only for the cause of preserving constitutional identity and not for invalidating any original clause/system.

This article critically examines instances of judicial activism in the field of Islamic family law in Bangladesh in an attempt to assess this judicial trend. Seeing 'judicial activism' mainly as an enlightened application of ijtihād and also as society-specific application of statutes based on, or related to sharī'ah, we highlight the justice-ameliorative role of this concept. The authors argue that judicial activism has led to the amelioration of the status of women in Bangladesh as compared to a traditional construction of the sharī'ah, and that judges have adequate authority and legitimacy to develop Islamic family law to ensure better justice in the home. We conclude that modernist judicial reform is not only desirable but also inevitable in the current South Asian socio-legal milieu, where legislative passivity vis-à-vis Islamic family law prevails.

By analysing public interest litigation (PIL) jurisprudence, this article examines Bangladeshi judicial activism in dispensing justice through the promotion and protection of the ‘public interest’ and imperatives of constitutionalism. Originally linked with the idea of having an accessible judicial system for the wider community, PIL in Bangladesh previously focused primarily on ‘the weak’, as well as on pure rights. However, while PIL has recently extended its stake to a broader set of constitutional issues, it has not delivered on its promises. It is said that the elitist use of PIL has undermined a much-needed focus on social justice and public empowerment. This article argues that PIL's underperformance is not rooted in its elite-driven use alone, but is also a consequence of judicial unwillingness to remain jurisprudentially creative. Adopting a broader rather than minimalist approach to PIL, it focuses on the limits of social-rights-centric concept of social justice, and argues that enforci...