IIUC STUDIES

ISSN 1813-7733
Vol.- 7, December 2010
(Published in December 2011) (p 73-90)

The Right to Information Act in Bangladesh:

An Analysis in the Light of Johannesburg Principles
of Freedom of Information Legislation

Mohammad Hasan Murad*

Kazi Arshadul Hoque**
Abstract: Today's knowledge based world is now resonating
with the call for meaningful democracy backed by
transparency and accountability in the state engine and
people’s right of access to information has gained a great
importance. In a modern democratic state, the right to
information, more popularly described as the ‘right to
know,’ is an indispensable prerequisite. There is no denying
the fact that the notion of freedom of thought, of conscience,
of speech and rule of law become worthless if the people
are deprived of access to information. . There appears to
have been a universal recognition of the demand and
necessity for the establishment of people’s right of access to
information. The experience in other countries suggests that
this scenario can be changed by empowering people with
right to information or freedom of information. The
translation of right to information into law has to be done
considering a number of principles which are required to
be addressed in the law. The article presents an overview of
the concept of right to information and attempts to discuss
the principles underpinning right to information along with
an analysis of to what extent those principles are reflected
in the right to information law of Bangladesh.

Introduction
Right to information, often otherwise known as freedom of
information is now a universally recognized right and considered a
fundamental key to the all the other rights. The United Nation in its
first session of general assembly adopted the Regulation (59)1 which

* Assistant Professor, Department of Law, International Islamic University Chittagong

** Lecturer, Department of Law, International Islamic University Chittagong
IIUC Studies, Vol. 7

declares “Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and is

the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is
concerned”.iIn a democratic society people are the most powerful
element and right to information empowers them to realize the fruits of
democracy. Transparent governance structure is an absolute
requirement for free debate and accountability that encourage citizens
to engage with public officials and make the state a more effective one.
Governments cannot be transparent without creating regime where
general people have a right to know what their Government is doing or
what information it is holding. Adams ii puts emphasis that it is
indispensable that the people acquire knowledge in order to participate
in politics. ‘‘The people have a right, an indisputable, inalienable,
indefeasible divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of
knowledge, I mean of the characters and conduct of their rulers,’’
stated Adams. He continued ‘‘The preservation of the means of
knowledge among the lowest ranks, is of more importance than all the
property of all the rich men in the country.’’
Freedom of information is important because of-

1. Confidence and loyalty thrive where people have the right to

know.
2. Patriotism springs from the people’s own convictions, based not
upon government propaganda but on full information of all sides
of every question.
3. Government power, backed by an informed citizenry, is
unassailable, because through full availability to the news, an
equal partnership between the government and the individual is
established, based upon respect for the latter’s right to know.iii

Meaning of Right to information

Right to information is also known as freedom of information or
access to information. Some people call this right as Right to know as
well. In this article these terms are often used
interchangeably.Buisnessdictionery.com provides the simplest
definition of this right-

“Right of a citizen to be informed in writing if a

governmental agency holds certain information and to
request its disclosure. If refused, he or she can demand
to be given the cause of refusal in writing”.iv

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Resolution 59 (1) v which was adopted in the first session of United

Nations’ General Assembly defines freedom of information in general
term as follows-

“Freedom of information implies the right to gather,

transmit and publish news anywhere and everywhere
without fetters. As such it is an essential factor in any
serious effort to promote the peace and progress of the
world.”

The two most respected documents of Human Rights recognize the

right to information.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsvi, 1948 reads:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and

expression; this right includes freedom to hold
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas through any media and
regardless of frontiers”

Article 19 (2) of the International Covenant On Civil and Political

Rights(ICCPR)vii, 1966 states:

“Everyone shall have the right to freedom of

expression; this right shall include freedom to seek,
receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds,
regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in
print in the form of art, or through any other media of
his choice”.

The foregoing definitions not only encompass the right to know to a

national level but it also include the duty of the states to the citizens of
the world to inform them what is crucial for the world peace and
prosperity.

In the light of above definitions we can define Right to Information as

a right ensured by legislation which guarantees access to information
held by the Government. However the Right to Know must be
exercised by the legal process established by the related legislation. An
information request for Government held information should be
processed in minimum time with free of cost or at minimal cost. An
information request will not be denied unless the information sought

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falls within the scope of the exceptions specified by the legislation and
written reasons for such denial are provided to the seeker of
information.

Origin and Development of the concept

The rise of the RTI law worldwide comes as an indicator of the
increasing acknowledgment of the importance of the citizens’ access to
information as a catalyst for strengthening democracy, promoting
human rights and good governance, and fighting corruption.

The history of emergence of the Right to Information is not very new.

Constitution of many countries explicitly or impliedly guarantees
Freedom of Information but such guaranty was not often enough for
the citizens to obtain information from the Government agencies
which tend to be secretive. Under different constitutions presidents and
prime ministers obtained great powers and authority which were
supposed be checked by administrative accountability. Various field of
development called for greater openness and accountability which set
the stage of Introduction of Freedom of Information legislations. With
the growth of modern welfare state, governments began to affect more
people, and they demanded more information from the government.
Issues concerning citizen’s rights and entitlements sparked public
debate. Then, starting in the early 1960s protest movement encouraged
greater “power to the people”. As the 1960s progressed, people grew
increasingly skeptical of official information and credibility gaps
emerged in democratic societies. At the same time, increased executive
power shifted the focus of lobbyist from the legislature to the
executive, and pressure groups demanded more information from the
incumbent administrations and governments… civil servants also
started to support FOIs (freedom of information) as whistleblowers
increasingly faced with the prospects of prosecution. Last but not the
least, the disciplines of political science and public administration
grew, and the scholars in those fields joined the chorus of calls for
more information in the government.viii

Sweden enjoyed the privilege of being the first country in the world to
introduce its Freedom of Information law namely “Freedom of Press
Act 1866”. The principle of openness "Offentlighetsgrundsatsen" has
been long protected in Swedish law. There are four fundamental laws
that make up the Swedish Constitution. Of those, the Instrument of
Government and the Freedom of the Press Act specifically provide for
freedom of information.

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Chapter 2, Article 1 of The Instrument of Government guarantees that

all citizens have the right of Freedom of information: that is, the
freedom to procure and receive information and otherwise acquaint
oneself with the utterances of others.

Specific rules on access are contained in the Freedom of the Press Act,
which was first adopted in 1766. The current version was adopted in
1949 and amended in 1976. Chapter 2 on the Public Nature of Official
Documents, decrees that "every Swedish subject [and resident] shall
have free access to official documents." Public authorities must
respond immediately to requests for official documents. Requests can
be in any form and can be anonymous.

Each authority is required to keep a register of all official documents

and most indices are publicly available. This makes it possible for
ordinary citizens to go to the Prime Minister's office and view copies
of all of his correspondence.ix

In the United States, steps are taken to legislate Freedom of

Information following a conference by the United Nations held in
1948. Congress debated the relevance and necessity of Freedom of
Information Act for almost a decade before it is enacted. The US FOIA
, which amended the Administrative Procedure Act 1946, passed on
July 4,1966 and went into effect in 1967. For the first time in US,
individuals and organizations could request documents from a federal
agency, although some documents fall into nine broad exemption
categories and remain off limit. Amendments made to the FOIA in
1984 in the wake of Watergate scandal significantly strengthen the
reach of FOI. Unfortunately, subsequent amendments during Regan
administration and other legislation passed after 9/11 attack have
greatly restricted the scope of the actx. However the US FOIA has
served as a model of most Freedom of Information or Right to
Information legislation of the world.

Over the past years there is a wave of Freedom of Information

legislation in developed and developing countries. Almost 85 countries
of the world have adopted some form of Right to Information
legislation. The number is expected to increase in future as many other
countries have their Freedom of Information Act is in pipe line. The
increased recognition of this right indicates that the governments are
willing to be more transparent and the era of secrecy is going to end.
Developing countries view Right to Information as a great opportunity

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to fight corruption and promote good governess which are the key to
development and prosperity.

Right to Information and state secrecy

There is a general pattern in Freedom of Information legislation to
provide exemption for information concerning national security. In
many countries there are different Official Secrecy Acts which put
limitation on what kind of information may be released or what kind of
data may be withheld. In theory, the sole purpose of these Acts is to
ensure national security and smooth functioning of governance. In
reality, these cloaks of secrecy acts are often used to hide abuses and
corruption, for instance undue interference in the political system and
the information relating to torture on opposing political parties by
police and intelligent agencies. These acts coupled with the different
surveillance regulation can create a Panopticonxi regime which might
only be balanced by an effective FOI. Justice Potter Stewart said in the
Pentagon Papers casexii, “When everything is classified, then nothing is
classified, and the system becomes one to be disregarded by the
cynical or the careless, and to be manipulated by those intent on self-
protection or self-promotion.” he continued, “the hallmark of a truly
effective internal security system would be the maximum possible
disclosure, recognizing that secrecy can best be preserved only when
credibility is truly maintained.”

Right to Information Act 2009 (Bangladesh)

Bangladesh gained her independence in 1971 after a bloody war. There
was much hope and aspiration that the post war Bangladesh will be a
better place to live and the country would prosper economically and
socially. Unfortunately the expectation remained farfetched due to
very bad governance and power games of the political leaders and
power hungry army men. The democratic process has not been smooth
all these years since independence. Bangladesh is submerged in deep
corruption due to lack of transparency and accountability of those who
are in authority. A revolutionary change in the governance is the only
way out of the problems and to setting a course towards meaningful
development. The enactment of Right to Information Act 2009 is a
great step towards a success.

In the preamble of the Constitution of Bangladesh it is pledged that “it

shall be a fundamental aim of the State to realize through the
democratic process a socialist society, free from exploitation a society
in which the rule of law, fundamental human rights and freedom,

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equality and justice, political, economic and social, will be secured for
all citizensxiii.”It is absolutely compulsory that this pledge should be
reflected through inter alia freedom of information legislation. The
Constitution also guarantees freedom of speech and of expression in
unequivocal terms. Article 39xiv reads

1. Freedom of thought and conscience is guaranteed.

2. Subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the
interests of the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign
states, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt
of court, defamation or incitement to an offence–
(a) the right of every citizen to freedom of speech and expression,
and (b) freedom of press are guaranteed.”

Universal Declaration of Human Rights and The International

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights made it mandatory to the state
parties that they enact suitable legislation to empower people with
Freedom of expression which includes right to seek, receive and
impart all kinds of information except those are necessary for state
security and securing privacy of ordinary citizens. Bangladesh became
signatory to The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
on December 6, 2000. So Bangladesh is bound by international law to
enact laws which will ensure greater freedom and access to its citizens
and stakeholders and adopt policies to be more transparent and
accountable.

Before the enactment of Right to Information Act 2009, there was no

specific law or regulation which provides citizens to seek information
from government or non government organizations. On the other hand
there have been some prohibitory laws in order to ensure secrecy.
Some notable are as follows-

1. Section 5 (1) of the Official Secrets Act, 1923 which intends to

secure some very confidential information like passwords, the
release of which can harm the concerned authority or project.
Nevertheless, this section has been widely used as an excuse to
withhold information even though their release in no way could
have been harmful.
2. Section 123 of the Evidence Act -this section gives wide power to
the head of department to decide whether a piece of unpublished
information relating to state matters which could be used as

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evidence in the court should be released or not. He has got

absolute discretion on the release and it is not compulsory that his
decision should be based on any reasonable grounds and it is not
also mandatory to provide the reasons for information rejection.
Only subjective satisfaction is required in this case.
3. Rule 28(1) of the Rules of Business 2009 prohibits publication of
official matters.
4. Rule 19 of the Government Servants (Conduct) Rules, 1979 sets
up disclosure liabilities to the government officers.

There are many other provisions scattered in different laws and rules
prohibiting access to information. Information generally remains secret
if not stated or classified otherwise. Although disclosures(should) be
the general rule, not the exception; that all individuals have equal
rights of access; that the burden be on the Government to justify the
withholding of a document, not on the person who requests itxv.

Upon the demands of civil society and journalist communities, the

Law Commission of Bangladesh prepared a draft paper on RTI in
2002. However, this working paper was prepared without proper
consultation of people and stakeholders and later the process was
blocked in the bureaucratic red tape. For some years the whereabouts
of the paper were even unknown.

In 2005 Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) which represents an

association of non-governmental organizations, took the initiative to
revive the RTI legislative effort. The organization invited the
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) to provide technical
assistance in terms of capacity building, awareness rising, and creating
better understanding of the benefits of RTIxvi.

In the mean time, the demand for RTI was intensified by different
groups such as media, research groups, academia, NGOs, etc. A
process of promotion started through developing various
communications materials, popular theatre, and songs on RTI, and
conducting of research. Many non-governmental organizations and
other networks become keenly involved in this processxvii.

In 2007 the change in the political scenario in Bangladesh actually

helped speed up the enactment process of RTIA. The transitional
government was keen to improve governance and the law was drafted,

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reviewed and critiqued by experts and submitted to the Information

Ministry in 2007. The Ministry finalized the draft and finally signed it
as an ordinance by the president in October 2008. According to the
Constitution the ordinance has to be ratified by the next elected
parliament.

A general election was held in December 2008.The RTI Forumxviii

lobbied with the members of new parliament for the enactment of the
RTI law. The law minister, information minister, and several MP's
were met individually to promote its enactment. The newly elected
government has set up a review committee of experts to evaluate the
ordinance passed during the time of caretaker government. The RTI
Forum also lobbied with the expert group in order to expedite the
rectification of the ordinance.xix

Finally, on March 29, the bill was enacted in parliament as Right to

Information Act (RTI), 2009 ushering Bangladesh into the new
challenge of implementing the law.

Johannesburg Principles of Right to Information legislation and

analysis of RTI Act
Article 19, an International Human Rights Organization and Centre for
Applied Legal Studies (CALS) at the University of Witwatersrand,
South Africa, jointly convened a meeting of some 36 leading experts
from different parts of the world in Johannesburg, South Africa on
Freedom of Expression In 1995. Their aim was to set authoritative
standards and the legitimate scope of restrictions on freedom of
expression in protecting national securityxx. The group of experts
discussed, debated and developed principles on Freedom of Expression
and Information which was released in 1996 in the name of The
Johannesburg Principles: National Security, Freedom of Expression
and Access to Informationxxi. These principles received wide
recognition from judges, lawyers, civil society actors, academics,
journalists around the world. The principles were also endorsed by the
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expressionxxii. In 1999 Article
19 published a set of detailed general standard and process clarifying
the principles relating to Freedom of Information in Johannesburg
document in the name The Public's Right to Know, Principles on
Freedom of Information Legislationxxiii. We will discuss the principles
in brief in the following.

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Principle 1: Maximum disclosure

Freedom of information legislation should be guided by the principle

of maximum disclosure. This principle establishes a legal presumption
that all information held by public bodies is subject to disclosure and
this presumption may be rebutted only in minimum circumstances. It
embodies the core concept of Freedom of information and right to
know and should always be given the best priority. Everybody in the
state should have access to this right and should not require the
information seeker to demonstrate specific interest in the information
sought.

The above principle is reflected in Section 4 of Right to Information

Act, 2009, which spells out in clear terms a statutory right to
information for every citizen. The sections runs as,’ Subject to the
provisions of this Act, every citizen has a right to information from the
Authority and the Authority shall on demand from a citizen be bound
to provide information’.

Principle 2: Obligation to publish

Public bodies are under obligation to publish key information. Public
bodies should not only respond to information request but also make
available for general people certain important information relating to
their function, activities, finance and service they provide. The law
must establish both a general obligation to publish and main categories
of information that must be published. This makes it convenient for the
members of the public to obtain service from the related bodies.

Section 6 of the Act lays down the obligation for public authorities to
publish certain information from time to time. They may be
summarized as follows-

a. A description of the organization and responsibilities of the

executives of the public authority and description of its decision
making process and responsibilities of its officers and
employees.
b. Classes of records in the possession of the Public Authority
including the rules, regulations, instructions and list of manuals
used by its employees.
c. A statement about the conditions upon which citizens can
acquire any license, permit, grant, allotment, consent, approval

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or other benefits of any nature from the Public Authority or upon

which transactions or contracts of any category can be entered
with the Public Authority.
d. Name, designation and location of the officer to whom
information request should be made.

It is also stated that the above information will be made available to

the public for inspection free of cost and be supplied the copy with
nominal fees. In order to fulfill the requirement of this section,
authorities may establish websites to publish their information also
provide information kiosks in their premises to supply this general
information. Although website establishment is not clearly indicated in
the section but the objective is better achieved with the setting up of
interactive websites where people can view, search and download
latest updates from the organization and it has shown very fruitful so
far. It is also important that such websites are regularly updated.

Principle 3: Promotion of open government

Public bodies must actively promote open governance. Public bodies
must inform the people of their rights and a culture of openness must
be promoted inside the government. Reluctant officials can seriously
undermine the working of even most advance right to information
legislation. The law should require that proper resources and attention
are deployed to promote openness. General people should be educated
and made aware of their rights and ways to realize them through mass
media and such other methods. The law should also provide ways to
deal with official secrecy.

There is no specific section as to the openness of the government in the

Act. However, penalties have been imposed in case of the failure of
disclosing information or failure to give reasons for non disclosure or
delay.

Principle 4: Limited scope of exceptions

Exceptions should be clearly and narrowly drawn and subject to strict
“harm” and “public interest” tests. All requests for information
should be dealt with individually unless the public body can show the
requested information falls within the narrow categories of exceptions.
The law should provide a complete list of the legitimate aims in order
to justify non disclosure of information. A three part test must be done
before any information denial.

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a. The information must be within the scope of legitimate aims

listed in the law.
b. Disclosure of such information must cause a threat of
substantial harm to that aim.
c. The harm to the aim must be greater than the interest of the
public in having the information.

Section 7 points out the circumstances in which information may be

withheld by the authorities. The authorities shall not be obliged to
provide following information-

a. Information which pose threat to the security, integrity and

sovereignty of Bangladesh.
b. Any information relating to any foreign policy matter as may
offend the existing relationship with any foreign country or
international organization or any regional bloc or organization.
c. Secret information received from a foreign government.
d. Publication of any information relating to inherent secrets of
commercial or business nature, copyright or intellectual
property publication of which may harm the intellectual
property right of a third party.
e. Disclosure of any of the following information which may be
gainful or damaging to any particular individual or
organization, such as:-
i. any advance information about income tax, customs, VAT
and law relating to narcotics, about budget or change in
the tax rate;
ii. any advance information about changes related to
exchange rate and interest rate;
iii. any advance information about the management and
supervision.
f. Disclosure of any such information as may obstruct the
enforcement of law or may incite any offence.
g. Information, the disclosure of which would endanger the
security of public or impede the due judicial process of a
pending case.

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h. Information, the disclosure of which would offend the privacy

of the personal life of an individual.
i. Information, the disclosure of which would endanger the life
or physical safety of any person.
j. Information given in confidence to law enforcement
organization by a person.
k. Any matter pending in any court of law and which has been
expressly forbidden to be published by any court of law or
tribunal or the disclosure of which may constitute contempt of
court.
l. Information which would impede the process of investigation.
m. Any information which would affect any criminal
investigation process and arrest or prosecution of offenders.
n. Any such information which, according to law, is liable to be
published only for a certain period of time.
o. Information obtained through technical or scientific
experiment, which it is expedient to keep secret for strategic or
commercial reasons.
p. Any information pertaining to a purchase process before it is
complete or a decision has been taken about it;
i. such information as may be prejudicial to the special
rights of the National Parliament;
ii. any secret information of a person which is guarded by
law;
iii. advance information relating to question papers of an
examination or marks obtained;
iv. documents including summaries to be placed before the
Cabinet, or as the case may be, Council of Advisers and
information relating to discussions and decisions of such
meetings:

Provided that the decisions of Cabinet or Council of Advisors, as the

case may be, reasons thereof, and the material basis upon which the
decisions were taken, may be made public.

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It seems that the above list tries to cover state security, price sensitive
information, and personal privacy and sub-judice matters. Many
observers believe that the exception is too broad and susceptible to be
misused as an excuse for non disclosure by the authorities unless a
clear explanation is provided by the authority in relation to applying
these exceptions on information requests.

Principle 5: Processes to facilitate access

Requests for information should be processed rapidly and fairly and
an independent review of any refusals should be available. A process
of information request decision should be dealt in three levels: within
the public body; appeals to an independent administrative body and
appeals to a court.

According to Section 24 of the Act any person who does not receive a
decision within the time specified in the Act or is aggrieved by a
decision of the officer in-charge may prefer an appeal to the Head of
the concerned authority within 30 days of time expiry or receipt of
impugned decision. The appellate authority may accept a late
application if there is sufficient cause for such delay. The appellate
authority will direct the officer in-charge to supply the information or
discharge the appeal application within fifteen days of the receipt of
the appeal.

Section 25 tells us the procedure for complaints to the Information

Commission. A person may lodge a complaint if he does not receive
informationxxiv, aggrieved by the decision of the appeal, or does not get
information within the time or any other matters concerning supply of
information.

Section 29 says ‘no court shall entertain any suit, application or other
proceeding in respect of any order made under this Ordinance and no
such order shall be called in question otherwise than by way of an
appeal under this Ordinance’. A person aggrieved by the decision of
information officer or Information Commission cannot go to the court.
This provision has been criticized by Right to Information Activities.
In my opinion this provision is against the spirit of Right to
Information.

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Principle 6: Costs for obtaining access to information

Individuals should not be deterred from making information request by
the excessive costs. The cost for obtaining access to information should
not be so high as to discourage the general people for making request.

Section 9 lays down the procedure for providing information including

costs. The officer in-charge will let the applicant know about the cost of
information sought and the cost should not exceed the actual cost for
retrieving and printing or otherwise supplying through electronic ways.

Principle 7: Open meetings

Meetings of public body should be open to public. People should know
what their government is doing and they should have a way to
participate in the decision making process. There a presumption should
be established that all government meetings are open to public unless
there is a compelling reason not to be so. A meeting in this context is
referred as formal meetings.

There are no such provisions in the act as to open meetings. Open

formal meetings are very crucial. They provide people a chance to
witness what is going on in a organization and to what extent such
organization is serving to the public.

Principle 8: Disclosure takes precedence

Laws which are inconsistent with the principle of maximum disclosure
should be amended or repealed. The right to information law requires
that all the other laws should be interpreted in such way as to be
consistent with its provisions so far as possible. In cases where this is
not possible, other legislation dealing with information should be
subject to the principles underlying the freedom of information
legislation.

As we have seen earlier there are many secrecy laws that can deter free
flow of information and some of which are so ambiguous as to have
potentials to create barrier to any kind of information request. Unless
RTI is given the priority over secrecy, the objects of the Act could not
be realized. The Act has not outlined any specific provision as to the
circumstances where the RTI will get privilege.

Earlier in this article, it is discussed the myriad of secrecy regulations

of the country. It is quite understandable that there will be potential
conflict between secrecy provisions and RTI obligations. From the

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general reading of the Act , It is obvious that the law makers intended
to make right to information as a general rule, nevertheless, the
intention may be defeated as the host of exceptions within the law and
previous secrecy legislation will stand on the way of free flow of
information if the law does not say anything about which law takes
precedence. Section 3 (b) gives the Act precedence over any other Act
coming in conflict with the RTI ACT. However, the exceptions laid
down in the Act are two broad and could be applied to any information
request resulting in the denial as such. The Government should make
specific guidelines as to the scope and extent of the application of
those exceptions.

Principle 9: Protection for whistleblower

Individuals who release information on wrongdoing or whistleblower
must be protected. Persons should be protected from any legal,
administrative or employment related sanctions for releasing
information on wrongdoing. In this context wrongdoing may include
but not limited to criminal activities, failure to comply legal obligation,
mischief, miscarriage of justice, corruption, dishonesty and nepotism.
The RTI law should have lent such protections to the people who
reveal in order to encourage openness and accountability. Many people
in the administration who come across corruption and mal
administration will spontaneously come up and reveal the wrong doers
if we the government guarantees their security and protection from the
retaliation of the persons whose wrong doing were exposed.

Conclusion
Enactment of a right to Information law is a significant event in the
judicial history of Bangladesh. There is no doubt that merely enacting
law is not adequate to change the present secretive and conservative
government. In order to bring real change the law must be implemented
effectively. But it is not an easy task for a developing country like
Bangladesh. We have the experience that a lot of good laws prevail in
our country but in reality people are not getting the fruit of these laws
properly. One of the biggest obstacles to implementation of RTI is the
wide spread corruption in each and every sector of the country. In
addition, the Parliament of Bangladesh is not functioning properly to
safeguard the interest of the people. It is true that at present the
Government does not have the infrastructure and system to fully realize
the potential of the Act. Digital divide and lack of Information
technology support exists which is seriously undermining facilitation of
required infrastructure for implementing the Right to Information Act.

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Moreover, that mass people is not educated and conscious enough.

Attempt to promote RTI in Bangladesh has been reflected in various
advertisement regarding RTI on electronic and print media by which
people at least are being informed of this Act. However, it will take
time and considerable effort to get over with the long lasting secrecy
mentality and practice of the Government Officials.

References

i http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/1/ares1.htm accessed on
December 1, 2009.
ii John Adams, ‘‘A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law,’’
Boston Gazette, September 30, 1765, in Papers of John Adams, ed.
Robert J. Taylor et al., vol. 1 (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of
Harvard University, 1977), p 108.
iii Foerstel, Herbert N.. Freedom of Information & the Right to Know :
The Origins & Applications of the Freedom of Information Act.
Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated,
1999. p 24.
iv http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/freedom-of-
information.html accessed on December 24, 2009
v Supra note 1.
vi http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ accessed on December 4,2009.
vii http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm accessed on December
4,2009
viii Sykes, P. and Piotrowski, S. "Executive Authority, Government
Transparency, and Democratic Accountability: Freedom of
Information in Anglo-American Systems" Paper presented at the
annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Hilton
Chicago and the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL Online . p 7
available at http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p60360_index.html
accessed on December 20, 2009.
ix http://www.freedominfo.org/countries/sweden.htm accessed on
December 21, 2009.
x Supra note 8 page 9.

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xi The Panopticon is a type of prison building designed by English

philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in 1785. The concept
of the design is to allow an observer to observe all prisoners without
the prisoners being able to tell whether they are being watched. This is
often referred to a society where authorities are increasing surveillance.
xii New York Times Company v. United States, 403 U.S. 713, 729 (1971).
xiii http://bdlaws.gov.bd/pdf_part.php?id=367 accessed on January3 ,2010.
xiv Id.
xv Foerstel, Herbert N.. Freedom of Information & the Right to Know :
The Origins & Applications of the Freedom of Information Act.
Westport, CT, USA: Greenwood Publishing Group, Incorporated,
1999. p 51
xvi Anam , Shaheen, Freedom to know, Forum 2009,the Daily Star,
available in http://www.thedailystar.net/forum/2009/june/freedom.htm
accessed on January 5,2010.
xvii id.
xviii Coalition of 80 organisations and individuals to promote RTI. For
more information visit http://www.manusher.org/rti_conference
/RTI_Forum_Members_Name_and_Address.pdf.
xix Anam ,Shaheen ,Supra note 16.
xx Mendel, Toby, The Johannesburg Principles: Overview and
Implementation, ARTICLE 19, Global Campaign for Free Expression
retrieved from http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/jo-burg-
principles-overview.pdf accessed on December 12,2009
xxi Available on http://www.article19.org/ pdfs/standards
/joburgprinciples.pdf
xxii Supra note 16.
xxiii Available on http://www.article19.org/pdfs/standards/righttoknow.pdf.
xxiv Section 13 (1) of RTI Act, 2009.

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