The term literally means “have the body”. It is addressed to one who detains or imprisons another and commands him to ‘have the body’ of the person in the court of the king’s bench on a certain day, together with the cause of his detention. If the court decides that the cause shown does not justify the detention, it orders his release.

A writ to produce a prisoner in person before the court and to state the reasons for detention. [Art. 102(2)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Bangladesh, 1972]

Jurisdiction of the High Court Division in an application in the nature of habeas corpus, is to see, if a person in custody is there in pursuance of any lawful authority, and when a person is serving out an order of sentence passed by a Court or tribunal, the jurisdictional validity of that order could be looked at. [Jamil Huq vs. Bangladesh (1982) 34 DLR (AD) 125]