Article 147 Pay and privileges of constitutional officers
Remuneration, etc., of certain officers
Officials whose pay cannot be cut are harder to pressure. The ban on business roles also protects citizens from decisions made by officeholders with a personal financial stake.
Parliament passes Acts setting the salaries and privileges of the President, ministers, judges and other listed officeholders. Until an Act covers an office, the President fixes the terms by order, and the previous terms continue in the meantime.
A government unhappy with a judge's rulings cannot reduce that judge's salary or privileges. Article 147(2) forbids varying the terms of any listed officeholder to their disadvantage during their term, which protects their independence from financial pressure.
A newly appointed Election Commissioner sits on the board of a private company. Under Article 147(3) the Commissioner must give up that role, because listed officeholders cannot hold any office of profit or take part in managing any body run for profit.
The protection applies only to the offices listed in clause (4): President, Prime Minister, Speaker or Deputy Speaker, ministers and ministers of state, Supreme Court judges, the Auditor-General, Election Commissioners and Public Service Commission members.
In plain English
How Article 147 works
Article 147 protects the pay and independence of key officeholders: the President, Prime Minister, Speaker and Deputy Speaker, ministers, Supreme Court judges, the Auditor-General, Election Commissioners and Public Service Commission members. Their remuneration, privileges and conditions are set by Act of Parliament, or by presidential order until then. Crucially, these terms cannot be changed to their disadvantage during their term of office. They also may not hold any other office of profit or take any part in managing a company or business run for profit, which guards against conflicts of interest.
In practice
Separate statutes fix the remuneration of the President, ministers, the Speaker, judges and other listed officeholders, and these are revised from time to time. Article 147(3) raises questions whenever officeholders have private business links, and incoming ministers and other listed officeholders are expected to step down from company boards and management roles. Clause (2) is regarded as an important element of judicial independence, alongside Article 94(4).
The text
What Article 147 says
147. (1) The remuneration, privileges and other terms and conditions of service of a person holding or acting in any office to which this article applies shall be determined by or under Act of Parliament, but until they are so determined -
...
(2) The remuneration, privileges and other terms and conditions of service of a person holding or acting in any office to which this article applies shall not be varied to the disadvantage of any such person during his term of office.
(3) No person appointed to or acting in any office to which this article applies shall hold any office, post or position of profit or emolument or take any part whatsoever in the management or conduct of any company, association or body having profit or gain as its object:
Provided that such person shall not for the purposes of this clause be deemed to hold any such office, post or position by reason only that he holds or is acting in the office first above mentioned.
(4) This article applies to the offices of –
(a) President;
[* * *]
[(b) Prime Minister;]
(c) Speaker or Deputy Speaker;
[(d) Minister, Minister of State or Deputy Minister;]
(e) Judge of the Supreme Court;
(f) Comptroller and Auditor General;
(g) Election Commissioner;
(h) Member of a public service commission.
Key clauses shown. Omitted text is marked with an ellipsis; read the full text on the official site.
English text as published on the official Laws of Bangladesh website. The Bangla text is authoritative (Article 153). Where a court has changed the position, the status note above explains it.
History
Amendments
- Fourth Amendment 1975 →Amended, as listed by Banglapedia; the detailed wording could not be checked against the Act text.
- Twelfth Amendment 1991 →Omitted the entry for the Vice-President.
- Thirteenth Amendment 1996 →Substituted sub-clauses (b) and (d) of clause (4) so that the protections for remuneration and terms of office covered the Chief Adviser and Advisers (section 7).
- Fifteenth Amendment 2011 →Substituted the entries for the Prime Minister and for ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers.
Connected provisions
Related articles
Questions
Article 147: frequently asked questions
Can the salary of a Supreme Court judge be reduced?
Not to their disadvantage during their term of office. Article 147(2) protects the remuneration, privileges and other terms of judges and other listed officeholders from being varied to their disadvantage while they hold office.
Can a minister run a business in Bangladesh?
Article 147(3) says ministers and other listed officeholders shall not hold any office of profit or take any part in the management or conduct of any company, association or body having profit as its object while in office.
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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