The misery of the poor and middle class people outspread across the market of daily commodities due to the skyrocketing price. The suffering caused by the price hike has been one of the most talked issues in Bangladesh in recent times. There are various reasons behind it, including the pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and hoarding that contribute to the increasing prices of rice, lentil, edible oil, onion, wheat, peas, chickpeas and other essentials. In this backdrop,  the role of the government can be questioned under the constitutional commitment. A person being entitled to right of life, a penumbra right, attracts some other rights including right to food which is being hindered due to soaring price-hike. Thus, the price-hike has two legal implications: one concerns the right to life and the other concerns the right to food. Though the right to food is not an enforceable right in Bangladesh, the government is under an obligation to stop price-hike, as it has a deep connotation with the right to life.

The fast-growing economy of Bangladesh presents a delightfully misleading impression regarding the financial condition of the mass people of the country. Despite the rosy state of per capita income on papers, people are seen rushing to open market sale (OMS) conducted by Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) trucks to buy the commodities at lesser prices. Prices of every essential goods have been on the rise since the pandemic hit the country but the recent situation has aggravated the turmoil of the commonalty. The reasons lie in the profit-gaining attitude of the unscrupulous businessmen and the inaction on the part of the government in this regard.

The government has the primary duty to establish a socialist economic system with a view to ensuring the attainment of a just and egalitarian society, free from the exploitation of man by man. This duty has been imposed on the government by article 10 of the Constitution of Bangladesh. Moreover, the preamble of the Constitution reiterates the supposition of socialism; and as such, it is regarded as a basic principle of the constitution. Accordingly, in the context of continuous price increase, it can be argued that the government is miserably failing to discharge the duty under article 10 and the preamble with respect to price management. Despite being judicially unenforceable, the said article has an intrinsic value in the governance of the state, process of law making and interpretation of the constitution by the virtue of article 8(2). Thus, when the price of daily commodities remains beyond the reach of the mass people of the country due to the capitalist approach of the concerned bodies which is in contradiction to the idea of socialism, the inaction of the government is imputable for the upheavals in the commodity market.

Granted, price escalates when there is scarcity of goods in the market; but clearly the reason behind the recent price-hike is not simply due to the shortage of supply. Rather, the reason lies in the hoarding nature of the tradesmen. The syndicates of suppliers create an artificial crisis in the market - while being backed by poor governance by the government, and compel the poor and middle class people to consume less and suffer more. Price-hike of basic foods does not leave the people with many options other than starving and cutting off their expenses from other basic necessities. As per article 15 of the Constitution, the government is under an obligation to secure the basic necessities of life, including food, clothing, shelter, education and medical care of the citizens. The sufferings caused by price-hike affect the attainment of basic necessities and thereby thrash the right to life. To elaborate, the Indian case of Maneka Gandhi v Union of India established that the right to life is not merely a physical right but includes within its ambit the right to live with human dignity. The same view was also reflected in the Bangladeshi case of Md Shameem v Bangladesh. Furthermore, in the case of Nurul Islam v Bangladesh, the court concluded that right to life means right to sound and healthy-wealthy life. In other words, the connection between the right to food and life goes without saying, and the former is crucial for the enjoyment of the latter. Because only the former is guaranteed, a life free from hunger, malnutrition and poverty can be ensured. Moreover, Bangladesh being a signatory of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 (ICESCR) also has a commitment to respect, protect and fulfill the right to food and the right to be free from hunger as enshrined in its article 11.

So when people starve, cut off expenses, rush to OMS, and beg, their lives become bereft of human dignity which affects their right to life on a whole. Undoubtedly, the right to life is an enforceable right which becomes undermined when people cannot live with dignity. A human life is not a mere existence, the bare necessities of life, i.e. adequate nutrition, clothing and shelter also fall within the purview of the right to life. As such, the price-hike can surely be alleged to have impacted the realisation of the right to life which invokes the responsibility of the government. Although as a developing nation, it might be quite difficult to ensure the right to food for the resource constraints,  the government can at least make certain that people would not fail to meet their bread and butter just because of sky-high prices. Every effort from the end of the government at its disposal should be made to satisfy, as a matter of priority, its obligation to secure food as one of the basic necessities. The artificial crisis in the market should be prevented by any means to guarantee that all the earning people can meet their basic needs.

Therefore, keeping the upcoming Ramadan, and constitutional and international commitments elaborated above, the government should direct the concerned bodies to implement the relevant laws, monitor the prices of commodities, prevent hoarding so that the prices do not slip away from the hands of the mass-people. Such measures will uphold the right to life which is, in essence, deeply connected with the other rights associated with basic necessities. It is to be taken into note that human rights are interconnected; so when one is not fulfilled, the others remain under threat too. Price-hike, having facets of rights to life and food, remains as an obstacle to the quality and development of human life. Thus, the government has no option of escaping the liability arising out of the sufferings of human lives generated by price-hike, because the constitution obligates it to respect the right to life under every circumstance.

The writer is an LLM student at the University of Dhaka.