14
under which the Information Commission has been constituted for the
purpose of upholding and promoting the people’s right to information.
He lastly submits that the provisions of the RTI Act, in
particular, section 13(5) entrust the Information Commission with the
positive responsibilities to preserve, promote and uphold the right of
the citizens to information by, amongst others, giving effect to the
principles enshrined in the Constitution of Bangladesh and making
recommendation for promoting the application of the provisions of the
RTI Act so as to ensure and guarantee transparency and accountability
in all spheres. The impugned decision/order is contrary to the
functions of the Information Commission as set out in section 13 of
the said Act; and as such, the same is liable to be declared without any
lawful authority and of no legal effect.
Conversely, Mr. Tawhidul Islam, the learned Advocate
appearing on behalf of the respondent No.2 submits that the
information demanded by the petitioners from the Election
Commission are not information of their own, rather those are
submitted to the Commission by different political parties under the
relevant law, and as such those are categorized as information
supplied by third-parties (a«a£u fr La«ÑL plhl¡qLªa abÉ) as defined in
section 2 (i) of the RTI Act, 2009. Since those information falls under
the category of information supplied by third-parties, the incumbent
Officer of the Election Commission was bound under section 9 (8) of
the RTI Act to seek consent of the political parties who have
submitted their audited reports to the Commission. He also argues that