The 'Anti-Corruption Reform Commission' has been established to propose necessary reforms aimed at making the existing Anti-Corruption Commission a more effective, independent, and impartial institution.
The Commission is chaired by Iftekharuzzaman, the Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh. Its seven other members include former Comptroller and Auditor General Masud Ahmed, Dhaka University Public Administration Professor Dr Mobasser Monem, Prof Mostak Khan from the University of London, Barrister Mahdin Choudhury, Dhaka University law professor Dr Mahbubur Rahman, Supreme Court lawyer Farzana Sharmin, and a student representative.
Iftekharuzzaman
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), heads the Anti-Corruption System Reform Commission of the interim government.
He holds a PhD in Economics and has been with TIB since September 2004. Before joining TIB, he held several leadership roles, including Executive Director of the Bangladesh Freedom Foundation (1991-2004), Executive Director of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies in Colombo, Sri Lanka (1995-1999), and Senior Research Fellow and Research Director of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (1982-1995).
In 2008, Iftekharuzzaman became the first Bangladeshi elected to the International Board of Directors of Transparency International, where he served until 2015, having been re-elected for two additional terms in 2012 and 2015. During his tenure, he contributed to several committees, such as the Ethics Committee, Audit Committee, Finance Committee, and the Saving Anticorruption Fighters Efforts (SAFE) Committee. Currently, he is also a member of the 2019 Amalia Awards Committee for Transparency International.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman earned his bachelor's degree with honors in Economics from the University of Dhaka, a master's degree from the Academy of Economics in Wroclaw, and a PhD in Economics from the Central School of Planning and Statistics in Warsaw. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the International Relations Department of the University of Tokyo. In 1968, he distinguished himself by securing first place in the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination in the Humanities Group of the Jessore Education Board.
He serves as a Trustee of the Bangladesh Freedom Foundation, a member of the International Commission on the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and a member of the International Research Committee of the Regional Centre for Strategic Studies in Colombo. He is also a founder and core group member of the Citizens Platform for SDGs in Bangladesh.
In recognition of his leadership in combating corruption and promoting transparency and good governance, Dr Iftekharuzzaman was awarded the first Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) Award in May 2015. The award acknowledged his efforts to drive institutional, legal, and policy reforms at the national level, as well as his promotion of participatory social accountability, particularly by engaging volunteers and youth in Bangladesh.
Masud Ahmed
Masud Ahmed, a retired bureaucrat and former Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh, serves as a member of the Anti-Corruption Reform Commission.
Born in 1955 in Jamalpur District, he began his public service career by joining the Bangladesh Civil Service (Audit and Accounts Cadre) in January 1981. After completing his academic training, he was posted as Assistant Accountant General (PT&T). Throughout his distinguished career in the Civil Service, he held various key roles within both the accounts offices and audit directorates of the Audit and Accounts Department.
Ahmed's roles included Deputy Accountant General, Chief Accounts Officer for the Local Government & Rural Development Division and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director of the Foreign Aided Project Audit Directorate and the Defence Audit Directorate, as well as Deputy, Joint, and Senior Finance Controller in Defence Finance. He also received extensive training in auditing from institutions in India, Singapore, and the U.S.
In addition to his auditing roles, he served as Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping and the Economic Relations Division, Member Finance (Joint Secretary) of BEPZA, Managing Director (Additional Secretary) of the Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust, Director General of the Bureau of Manpower Employment & Training, Consultant for the Financial Management Reform Programme (FMRP), Secretary of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs, and a member of the Planning Commission.
On 28 April 2013, Ahmed was appointed as the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh. During his tenure, he oversaw Bangladesh’s first performance audit focusing on climate-related issues. He also served as a member of the 2017 search committee for the Bangladesh Election Commission. He held the position of Comptroller and Auditor General until his retirement on 26 April 2018.
Beyond his professional achievements, Masud Ahmed is an accomplished novelist and short story writer, with more than one hundred short stories and six novels to his name. He is also a vocalist for Bangladesh Television.
Mushtaq Khan
Mushtaq Husain Khan is a British-Bangladeshi economist and professor of economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. His work focuses on the economics of developing countries, with significant contributions to institutional economics and South Asian development.
He is particularly known for developing the concept of political settlement, a political economy framework that examines how the distribution of organizational and political power among different groups or classes influences policies and institutions in various countries.
Born in Bangladesh in 1961, Khan has made important contributions to the field of ‘heterodox’ institutional political economy. He critiques the "good governance consensus" promoted by Bretton Woods institutions and many non-governmental organizations, challenging the assumption that eliminating rents, corruption, and rent-seeking behaviors—as well as pursuing democratization and decentralization—are prerequisites for successful development.
Khan was educated as an exhibitioner at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he graduated with a first-class BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics in 1981. He then completed his MPhil at King's College, Cambridge, in 1982 and earned his PhD there in 1989. Between 1990 and 1996, he served as a fellow and lecturer in economics at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and as assistant director of development studies at Cambridge.
In 1996, Khan joined SOAS and became a professor in 2005. Outside his academic career, he has consulted for the World Bank, the UK Department for International Development (DfID), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Asian Development Bank. He has also served as a visiting professor at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand and Dhaka University in Bangladesh.
Mahdin Choudhury
Barrister Mahdin Choudhury, an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, is also a member of the Anti-Corruption Reform Commission. He is an active politician affiliated with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), serving as a Life Member of the Ziaur Rahman Foundation, a member of the Sunamganj District BNP, and the Organizing Secretary of the BNP’s Jatiotabadi Aainjibi Forum, Supreme Court Unit for the Sylhet Division.
With over 14 years of legal experience, Mahdin Choudhury practices at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, with rights of audience in both the Appellate Division (the country’s highest court) and the High Court Division. He has worked alongside Barrister Fida M. Kamal, Senior Advocate and former Attorney General for Bangladesh, and has represented numerous cases advocating for environmental protection and human rights in collaboration with prominent organizations such as the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) and the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST).
In addition, Choudhury worked with the Human Rights Defenders Team of Odhikar and is an Executive Committee Member of the Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association. He is also a partner at Eden Chambers, having served as a Senior Associate at Sultan, Fida & Reza (Barristers and Advocates) from 2009 to 2018. Earlier in his career, he worked under the supervision of Barrister Ahmed Miah, now a partner at Temple Court Chambers in London, where he was involved in conveyancing, litigation support, and international transaction research at Mitre Court Chambers in 2008.
Choudhury’s academic credentials include a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of London (2004–2007) and a Bar Vocational Course from City Law School (2007–2008). He also served as a part-time lecturer at the British School of Law (BSL), Bangladesh. Since 1996, he has been an active member of Bangladesh Scouts.
Mahbubur Rahman
Muhammad Mahbubur Rahman is a Professor in the Department of Law at the University of Dhaka, where he has been teaching since 2009. He earned his PhD in criminal law from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
His research interests span criminal law, legal theory, human rights, and the intersection of law and society. Rahman is currently an elected member of the Executive Council of the Asian Society of International Law and is recognized for his academic contributions in South Asian legal studies.
He is the author of Criminal Sentencing in Bangladesh: From Colonial Legacies to Modernity (2017) and co-author of Protection of Minorities: Regimes, Norms and Issues in South Asia (2012). Rahman holds a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Humanitarian Law from NALSAR University of Law, India (2008–2009), a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Dhaka (2001), and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the same institution (2000).
Born in Bangladesh, Rahman completed his Higher Secondary Certificate from Dhaka College in 1996 and his Secondary School Certificate from Sena Palli High School in 1994. He began his academic career as a Lecturer in the Department of Law at Northern University, Bangladesh, in 2006 before joining the University of Dhaka.
In addition to his academic work, Rahman is an active member of several professional and research organizations. He serves as a member of the Ethical Review Committee at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), and is the Treasurer of the Bangladesh Chapter of the Asian Society of International Law. He is also a Life Trustee of the AsianSIL Bangladesh Trust and a member of the Bangladesh Law Association. Between 2021 and 2022, he was a member of the National Inquiry Committee on Violence Against Women and Children and Rape under the National Human Rights Commission, Bangladesh.
Farzana Sharmin
Farzana Sharmin Putul has been a practicing lawyer at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh since 2012, following her earlier career as an advocate at the District Court, where she enrolled in 2008. She has developed expertise in criminal litigation and judicial review of constitutional law, alongside other areas of law.
Farzana is the daughter of the former State Minister for Youth, Sports, and Communications, Fazlur Rahman Potol, a prominent Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) politician who served four terms in the Jatiya Sangsad representing the Natore-1 constituency. Like her father, she is actively involved in BNP politics and serves as a member of the special assistant to the Chairperson's Foreign Affairs Advisory Committee. Additionally, she is part of BNP's Human Rights Committee and Media Cell Committee.
Recognized for her legal skills, Farzana has enlisted herself as an English-speaking lawyer with the British High Commission’s retained list in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She holds memberships in several national and international legal organizations, including the International Bar Association, the Society of the Middle Temple (England), the Asian Society of International Law (AsiaSIL), and the Dhaka Bar Association.
Farzana holds two undergraduate law degrees—one from the University of Dhaka and another from the University of London. She also has two master’s degrees in law, one from the University of Dhaka and another from BPP University College in London. Her extensive academic qualifications and professional background have led her to be appointed as a legal advisor to various banks, insurance companies, and private enterprises.
Farzana's legal career has seen her hold a position as an associate at the prestigious legal firm 'Barrister Moudud Ahmed and Associates' in Bangladesh. She is currently advancing her career as a partner at RIGHTS Chambers.
Mobasser Monem
Mobasser Monem is a Professor of Governance and Public Management at the University of Dhaka.
He holds a PhD in Public Management and Policy from the University of London and has conducted post-doctoral research at both Sussex University and Heidelberg University. His research focuses on governance, public sector innovation, and comparative public policy. With more than 28 years of teaching experience, Dr. Monem has lectured at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in Bangladesh, the UK, Germany, and South Korea.
His academic journey began with a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Public Administration from the University of Dhaka in 1989. He later completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Policy (1991) and a master’s in Public Administration and Management (1992) from the University of Antwerp, Belgium. He pursued post-doctoral research as a fellow and visiting professor at Sussex University (2002–2003) and Heidelberg University, Germany (2003–2005).
Dr. Monem has authored two books and published over 100 scholarly articles and technical reports, with half of them appearing in internationally recognized, indexed academic journals. His expertise has made him a sought-after consultant for various international organizations, significantly contributing to public sector management and development practices in Bangladesh.
