Article 141 PSC annual report
Annual report
The annual report is how Parliament and the public find out whether the government ignored merit-based advice on recruitment. It turns the consultation duty into something that can be checked.
Early in the year the Public Service Commission compiles a report on its work during the previous calendar year: examinations held, candidates recommended, consultations received and advice given. The report is due to the President by the first day of March.
A memorandum attached to the report sets out each case where the government did not accept the commission's advice, and each case where it should have been consulted but was not, with the reasons as far as the commission knows them.
The commission submits the report and memorandum to the President. The President has no option to withhold it: Article 141(3) says the President shall cause them to be laid before Parliament at its first meeting after 31 March.
The report is tabled in Parliament, where members can question the government about cases in which the commission's advice was overridden. The tabled report also becomes a public record available to citizens and the press.
In plain English
How Article 141 works
Article 141 requires each public service commission to report every year. By 1 March, the commission must send the President a report on its work in the previous calendar year. The report must include a memorandum listing cases where its advice was not accepted, and why, and cases where it should have been consulted but was not, and why. The President must then have the report and memorandum laid before Parliament at its first meeting after 31 March. This exposes to public view any attempt by the government to bypass the commission.
In practice
The commission publishes its annual reports, which include statistics on examinations and recommendations. Laying of reports has at times been delayed, and parliamentary debate on them has been limited. While Parliament stood dissolved from August 2024 until the election of 12 February 2026, reports could not be laid until the new Parliament first met. Reform advocates have urged fuller debate of the memorandum on rejected advice as a check on politicised recruitment.
The text
What Article 141 says
141. (1) Each commission shall, not later than the first day of March each year, prepare and submit to the President a report on the performance of its functions during the period ended on the previous 31st day of December.
(2) The report shall be accompanied by a memorandum setting out, so far as is known to the commission-
(a) the cases, if any, in which its advice was not accepted and the reasons why it was not accepted;
(b) the cases where the commission ought to have been consulted and was not consulted, and the reasons why it was not consulted.
(3) The President shall cause the report and memorandum to be laid before Parliament at its first meeting held after 31st March in the year in which the report was submitted.
English text as published on the official Laws of Bangladesh website. Where a court has changed the position, the status note above explains it.
Connected provisions
Related articles
Questions
Article 141: frequently asked questions
When must the PSC submit its annual report?
Each commission must submit its report to the President not later than the first day of March each year, covering its work during the period ending on the previous 31 December, under Article 141(1).
Does the PSC report go to Parliament?
Yes. Article 141(3) requires the President to have the report and memorandum laid before Parliament at its first meeting held after 31 March in the year the report is submitted, so that members can scrutinise it.
Sources
This guide explains the Constitution for general understanding. It is not legal advice. Constitutional reform proposals under discussion in 2026 are described as proposals until enacted.
Constitutional and writ practice
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