3
RTI Act, 2009 and the respondent No.2 is the Election Commission of
Bangladesh, which has been constituted pursuant to Article 118 of the
Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, and is
responsible for the registration and regulation of the registered
political parties in accordance with the Political Parties Registration
Rules, 2008 (in short, Registration Rules, 2008) framed under Article
94 of the Representation of the People Order, 1972 (in short, RPO1972).
It has been stated that according to rule 9(b) of the Registration
Rules, 2008 every registered political party is required, as a part of its
continuous obligation to satisfy the conditions of registration, to
submit its audited annual statement of accounts to the Election
Commission, the respondent No.2 by 31st
July every year. The
petitioner No.1, along with the petitioner Nos.2 to 6, submitted an
application dated 12.06.2013 to the designated Officer (RTI) of the
Election Commission requesting him to provide photocopies of the
audited annual statements of accounts filed by the registered political
parties for all calendar years (Annexure-A). In response thereof, the
said
designated
Officer
17.00.0000.040.22.001.10-80
(RTI)
dated
vide
14.07.2013
Memo
No.
informed
the
petitioner No.1 that the information requested by him was not
Election Commission’s own information and hence, requested him to
collect those directly from the respective political parties (AnnexureB). Being aggrieved by the same, the petitioner No.1 on 04.08.2013
preferred an appeal under section 24 of the RTI Act to the Secretary