Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh

constitutional · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head: Md. Nurul Islam
Role: Comptroller and Auditor General
Annual budget: —
Staff: —
Established: 1972
Legal basis: Constitution of Bangladesh, Articles 127-132 (Part XI: The Comptroller and Auditor-General); first statutorily recognised by President's Order No. 15 of 28 February 1972; additional functions governed by the Comptroller and Auditor General (Additional Functions) Act 1974; Government Auditing Standards of Bangladesh 2021; Public Audit Ordinance 2025 (converted into law by the 13th Parliament, April 2026)

Actively processing AL-era megaproject audit findings: the FY 2021-22 reports (38 dossiers, submitted 5 May 2026 to PM Tarique Rahman) document cost irregularities across Rooppur, Karnaphuli Tunnel, and Padma Bridge, with the Rooppur 'pillow scam' triggering ACC summons against 33 officials. The office is navigating a newly enacted Public Audit Ordinance 2025 (converted to law April 2026) that TIB criticises for weakening the CAG's revenue audit authority, while PM Tarique has publicly signalled support for broader performance audits to follow up on the compliance findings.

Recent activity

2026-05-05 audit CAG Md. Nurul Islam submitted 38 compliance and performance audit reports for FY 2021-22, covering 17 ministries and divisions plus associated directorates, to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at the PM's Office; reports prepared under Article 128(1) of the Constitution and Section 5 of the CAG (Additional Functions) Act 1974. ↗↗↗
2026-05-05 audit CAG audit findings on the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (FY 2021-22) flagged Tk 36.4 crore swindled in the 'pillow scam': pillows procured at Tk 80,000 each, dressing tables recorded at Tk 4-5 lakh against estimated Tk 30,000-35,000; luxurious unnecessary apartments built at the Karnaphuli Tunnel site; and Rooppur total cost (Tk 96,000 crore) far exceeds the comparable Indian project (approx. Tk 14,000 crore). ↗↗↗
2026-05-05 statement Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, after receiving the FY 2021-22 audit reports, called for expanded performance audits alongside compliance audits to strengthen transparency in public expenditures; highlighted Padma Bridge cost (Tk 54,000-56,000 crore) versus India's Bhupen Hazarika Bridge (Tk 14,000-15,000 crore) as evidence of AL-era cost inflation. ↗↗↗
2026-04-12 legal Parliament converted 98 interim-government ordinances into law, including the Public Audit Ordinance 2025; Transparency International Bangladesh criticised the enacted version for excluding revenue assessment and collection from CAG's audit scope and retaining executive approval requirements (Sections 17-18) that constrain the CAG's operational independence. ↗↗↗
2026-02-17 other With the swearing-in of the Tarique Rahman government, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the 13th Parliament became the primary parliamentary body tasked with reviewing CAG reports; the CAG's backlog of unreviewed audit findings on AL-era megaprojects (Rooppur, Karnaphuli Tunnel, Padma Bridge Rail Link, BCIC fertiliser irregularities) placed on the new PAC's agenda. ↗↗
2025-05-10 audit CAG Md. Nurul Islam submitted 46 compliance audit reports for FY 2020-21 to then Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House, Jamuna. ↗↗↗

Provenance & notes

First statutorily recognised 28 February 1972 via President's Order No. 15; first CAG appointed 11 May 1973. The office is constitutionally independent: Article 128(4) bars any other person or authority from directing the Auditor General's exercise of functions. Md. Nurul Islam is the 13th CAG; appointed 13 July 2023 by gazette, assumed office 26 July 2023 for a five-year term; BCS (Audit & Accounts) cadre, 8th batch; previously Controller General of Accounts. The official website is listed in government directories as both cag.org.bd and cagbd.gov.bd (the .gov.bd domain is the canonical government address per task specification). Staff count and OCAG-specific budget line are not publicly disaggregated in available national budget documents; the finance division budget page for CAG exists (mof.portal.gov.bd) but granular allocation not retrieved. The Public Audit Ordinance 2025, enacted by the 13th Parliament in April 2026, is a landmark reform but drew TIB criticism for excluding revenue audits from CAG scope and requiring government approval for international agreements (Sections 17-18) -- a structural constraint on independence that the OCAG has not publicly contested. The Rooppur 'pillow scam' (Tk 36.4 crore) surfaced in the FY2021-22 audit cycle and has led to ACC summons against 33 officials and arrests of at least 13, demonstrating an unusually high post-audit enforcement response in the new government era.

Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh

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