Information Commission (Bangladesh)

The Information Commission Bangladesh is an independent statutory body responsible for ensuring citizens have access to information according to the Right to Information Act, 2009.^[1] The commission is mostly made up of bureaucrats.^[2] Abdul Malek, former secretary to the government of Bangladesh, became Chief Information Commissioner on 22 March 2023, but was relived from duties on 10 September 2024.

Information Commission Bangladesh

তথ্য কমিশন বাংলাদেশ
Formation	1 July 2009
Headquarters	Dhaka, Bangladesh
Region served	Bangladesh
Official language	Bengali
Chief Information Commissioner	Vacant
Information Commissioner	Masuda Bhatti Shahidul Alam Jhinuk
Parent organization	Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Website	Information Commission Bangladesh

History

The Information Commission of Bangladesh was established on 1 July 2009 by the Awami League government. It was based on the Right to Information Ordinance, which was passed in 2008 by the Caretaker Government during the 2006–2008 Bangladeshi political crisis and ratified by the parliament on 29 March 2009. The first chief information commissioner was M Azizur Rahman, a retired government secretary. Sadeka Halim, a professor at University of Dhaka, and Mohammad Abu Taher, another retired secretary, were the first two commissioners. They were selected through a selection committee led by a judge of the Bangladesh Supreme Court. Security and intelligence agencies are exempted from provisions of the commission.^[3][4][5] The inclusion of two former civil servants as commissioners drew criticism.^[4]

Out of the three commissioners, one of them must be a woman.^[6] To removal procedure for a commissioner is the same as that of a judge of the Bangladesh Supreme Court.^[6] The two commissioners have the rank of a government secretary since 2014.^[7]

Decisions of the commission regarding request for information can be appealed in courts.^[8] The commission provided information for 95 percent of the 6,369 requests it received in 2016.^[9] It also fines designated officers for not providing the requested information.^[9]

List of leaders

Chief information commissioners

Sl. No.	Name	Start date	End date	Reference
1.	M Azizur Rahman	2 July 2009	10 Jan 2010	[10]
2.	Ambassador Muhammad Zamir	31 March 2010	3 September 2012	[10]
3.	Ambassador Mohammed Farooq	11 October 2012	9 January 2016	[10]
4.	Professor Md. Golam Rahman	7 February 2016	6 January 2018	[10]
5.	Martuza Ahmed	18 January 2018	17 January 2023	[10]
6.	Dr. Abdul Malek	22 March 2023		[11]

Commissioners

Sl. No.	Name	Start date	End date	Reference
1.	Mohammad Abu Taher	2 July 2009	1 July 2014	[10]
2.	Professor Sadeka Halim	5 July 2009	4 July 2014	[10]
3.	Khurshida Begum Sayeed	28 September 2014	31 January 2018	[10]
4.	Nepal Chandra Sarker	16 September 2014	15 September 2019	[10]
5.	Dr. Abdul Malek	30 January 2020	21 March 2023	[10]
6.	Suraiya Begum	29 May 2018	28 May 2023	[10]
7.	Masuda Bhatti	24 August 2023	incumbent	[12]
8.	Shahidul Alam Jhinuk	24 August 2023	incumbent	[12]