When will the ACC be restructured?
In the last one and a half decades, 28 lakh crore taka has been illegally laundered from Bangladesh. Such information has emerged in the report of the white paper preparation committee formed by the interim government. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has the main responsibility of identifying these corrupt people and bringing them to justice.
But for the last one and a half months, the ACC has not had a chairman and commissioner. Although there is a provision to appoint a commissioner within a month of resignation, the ACC has not been formed yet. As a result, all activities including cases, charge sheets and other policy decisions to prevent corruption have come to a standstill. In such a situation, the International Anti-Corruption Day is being observed today with the theme ‘Unity of Youth against Corruption, Building the Purity of the Future’.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Executive Director Dr. Iftekharuzzaman said that to establish an independent Anti-Corruption Commission, the appointment process of the ACC must be free from party influence. The bureaucratic loyalty of the commission officials must be eliminated. We want an anti-corruption commission where there will be no party political influence at all levels, starting from the leadership. In particular, it must be ensured that there is no party influence in the appointment of the commission. The bureaucratic loyalty of the secretaries and directors general must be eliminated.
On October 29, former ACC Chairman Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah and former Commissioners Zahurul Haque and Asia Khatun resigned. On October 31, the President accepted their resignations. Sections 10 and 11 of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004 provide for the resignation of the Chairman and Commissioners and the steps to be taken to fill their temporary vacancies. Section 10(1) states that a Commissioner may resign by sending a one-month written notice to the President. Section 11 deals with temporary vacancies in the posts of Chairman and Commissioner. According to that section, if a Commissioner dies or resigns or is removed, the President shall appoint a suitable person to fill the vacancy within 30 days of the vacancy, subject to the provisions of this Act.
That is, according to the law, there is an obligation to form a new Commission within one month of resignation. The government formed a search committee on November 10 to recommend the appointment of the ACC chairman and commissioner. The notification states that the search committee will prepare a list of names of two persons against each vacancy of commissioner based on the decision of at least three members present and send it to the President to recommend the appointment of the chairman and commissioner. The progress of the committee’s work is not known. But one and a half months have passed since the resignation of the chairman and commissioners, and no new commission has been formed.
Meanwhile, the main allegation behind the ineffectiveness of the ACC is political impunity. Even though influential figures in the ruling party commit corruption, there is almost no precedent for taking action against them. Earlier, during the caretaker government in 2007, visible steps were taken by the ACC to arrest and prosecute corrupt officials. In comparison, the steps taken by the ACC during the current interim government are negligible. In addition, the ACC has been without a commissioner for the past one and a half months. As a result, activities have come to a standstill. Since there is no commission, no new action can be taken against anyone. As a result, the corrupt are getting away with it for now.
In this regard, former ACC Director General and former District Judge Md. Moidul Islam said, “The law must have been violated because the commission was not formed. The law states 30 days. If that is also considered the next 30 days after the resignation is accepted, that period has already passed. Although some want to count it as 30 working days. But the most important thing is that none of the ACC’s activities can be carried out without the chairman and commissioners. Starting from inquiries and investigations, all decisions are made through commission meetings. In that sense, the work of the ACC can be said to be closed in a way. No new work is being done. He believes that these issues should be given importance and appointments should be made as soon as possible.
In response to a question about whether the corrupt are taking advantage of the delayed formation of the commission, the former Director General said, “It is definitely creating additional opportunities for the corrupt. The investigation against those against whom there are allegations is not being carried out quickly. Many of their assets have not been attached or frozen.
There was such information and data against many that it was possible to file a case without a long investigation. But the case was not filed. The whole matter has fallen into a kind of delay. In that case, criminals or corrupt people are getting benefits. There is no initiative to arrest them. Many are accused in murder cases, and it has not been possible to show their arrest records due to the lack of cases.
ACC sources said that from January to October of this year, after scrutinizing and sorting out various complaints of the ACC, 439 complaints were taken into consideration for investigation. During this period, 227 complaints were closed or registered (exempted from charges). This year, the ACC filed charge sheets for 328 cases and 345 cases. In addition, although 31, 100 and 73 investigations were decided in August, September and October respectively, no investigation was started in November. Cases, charge sheets or other policy decisions could not be taken.
Meanwhile, the National Citizens’ Committee has objected to the formation of the commission before the reform. In a statement on November 27, they said that forming a selection committee for appointments to the agency while the activities of the commission formed to reform the ACC are ongoing is against the wishes of the coup and an undesirable step.
ACC Reform Commission Head Dr. Iftekharuzzaman said that if the appointment of the chairman and members of the commission is completed before the commission’s work is completed, the question of how compatible it will be with the possible reform proposals in this regard is also of particular concern. Because the role of the new commission will be the most important for the possibility of almost every other issue under the purview of the reform commission being fruitful.
Transparency International, a Berlin-based international organization in Germany, publishes a report every year to give an idea of the level of corruption in a country. According to the Corruption Perceptions Report for the year 2023, Bangladesh is ranked 10th among the countries with the highest level of corruption in the world. Earlier, in 2022, Bangladesh was ranked 12th. That is, Bangladesh’s position has deteriorated.
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