তথ্য অধিকার আইন

The Daily Star, January 15, 2022

Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz

Efforts to limit the ruler’s authority over the ruled is as old as human history. It is a subject that has occupied the minds of social thinkers and philosophers of all major civilisations since ancient times. Modern parliaments are the outcome of the search for a balanced system of governance, whereby people pledge obeisance to the ruling authority in exchange for a social compact that ensures their protection and well-being. The concept of government’s accountability to the people was born in the process. In parliamentary democracy, it forms the basis for peoples’ trust in the government and the latter’s answerability to the people. People choose their representatives to represent their interests in parliament and raise their concerns with the government on matters of governance. The purpose is to ensure that government activities are corruption-free, guided by law, and serve public good…Read More

The Daily Star, December 19, 2021

Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz

The importance of a robust Right to Information (RTI) regime for a healthy and vibrant democracy is universally recognised. However, in Bangladesh, the law is yet to capture the imagination of a majority of the population. Only a handful of people have so far used the law.

What is more astonishing is that even the once fabled civil society of Bangladesh, well-known for its proclivity to stand up for democracy and good governance, has kept away from the law—a law that is internationally recognised as a most potent instrument available to citizens for the prevention and detection of corruption, and for promoting transparency and accountability in the work of public bodies…Read More

The Daily Star, Nov 15, 2021

Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz

The Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2009 is made of interlocking parts. We usually focus on two of its main protagonists: citizens, for whose empowerment the law was enacted in the first place, and public authorities, who are required by the law to respond to legitimate information requests. Today, we will focus on another key element of the system—the Information Commission of Bangladesh.

The role of the Information Commission in implementing the RTI Act takes up more than half of the entire written text. And this is for good reason, because the law has entrusted the commission with a wide range of activities to carry out the purposes of the law. The “purposes” are facilitating citizens’ participation in the affairs of the state so that “transparency and accountability of all public (offices) shall increase, corruption… shall decrease and good governance… shall be established.”…Read More

The Daily Star, Oct 15, 2021

Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz

Last month marked the International Right to Know Day. From the few seminars and webinars arranged on the occasion, it was evident that even 12 years after the Right to Information (RTI) Act was enacted in Bangladesh, we are still largely preoccupied with how to spread awareness about the law. We discuss numbers, identify impediments to implementation, assess the response of public officials while handling RTI requests, and debate the value of proactive disclosures to minimise the use of the law. But what about the objectives of the law, and the underlying principles and philosophy that drive them?

The preamble to the RTI Act describes the law as an “Act to make provisions for ensuring free flow of information and people’s right to information.” The words “free flow of information” deserve emphasis. Information is a continuous process, constantly being created by all sorts of public authorities, to which citizens must have access. Proactive disclosures can only meet a miniscule part of that need…Read More