Bangladesh’s public procurement law has sought to ensure transparency, accountability and fairness in government procurements. Whether its accountability goal has been satisfactorily achieved is, however, a debatable issue. The author argues that the procurement rules are somewhat de-effected both by bureaucratisation and technical avoidance of the rules. On the other hand, the judiciary does not follow a searching review of public contracts. In this background, the author analyses the Bangladeshi procurement laws and practices with a view to fathoming ‘accountability’ in public procurements urges for simplified rules, more circumscribed administrative discretion, and a robust but principled judicial review of procurement decisions.
