ACC has failed

M M Jasim :The members of civil society have expressed their dissatisfaction at the performance of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), as it has failed to take any visual initiative to combat corruption. The ACC is an autonomous and constitutional body. The government spends huge amount of money for its officers and lawyers every year, but there is no visual progress in combating corruption, they said.  They came up with the observation after the ACC on Monday abolished its 11 institutional teams, as many members were involved with a number of irregularities. The teams also failed to meet the demand of people. At the same time, the Cabinet on Monday amended the ACC Act and gave power to judicial courts for probing cheating and forgery cases to minimise the workload of ACC. Chairperson of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Advocate Sultana Kamal told The New Nation that the ACC was not playing expected role to eliminate corruption from the society. Executive Director of TIB Dr Iftekharuzzaman said that the Commission had lost many graft cases in the court because of flawed investigation. He said that in many of the cases the Commission investigators had allegedly prepared weak charge-sheets for kickbacks. “Many officials of the Commission are involved with corruption as they take bribe from the accused persons and submit weak charge-sheets. As a result, the Commission cannot bring the unscrupulous people to justice, he said. Election Commissioner Brigadier General (retired) M Sakhawat Hossain told The New Nation yesterday that there was no doubt that the ACC failed to combat corruption. The committees formed to fight against corruptions in many sectors did not perform their duties properly as they were managed by the corrupt institutions or persons. The victims are not satisfied with the activities of the commission, he said. “We feel the presence of corruption in the country’s health, power, taxation, education, city corporations, communication and many other sectors. the Commission has failed to discharge its duties although it has 300 investigation officers, and several crores of taka have been spent to meet legal expenses,” he said. ACC sources said that pressure from influential politicians and other powerful quarters had forced the Commission investigators to prepare weak charge sheets.They also said that the Commission had lost most of the cases in the court for flawed investigation and inquiry, lack of credibility of its panel lawyers and loopholes.Former Chairman of the ACC Ghulam Rahman said the ACC lacked adequate power to fight against corruption. It is not legally strong enough to fight the corruption. He said, “People could have understood the power of the Commission, if the criminals would have been punished for committing corruption.” He expressed his dissatisfaction saying, “There was cry against corruption during the tenure of the caretaker government. Many people were taken to custody, but what happened to them finally?” While talking with The New Nation, the incumbent ACC Chairman M Badiuzzaman admitted that they were facing many problems in combating corruption. The chairman admitted that the ACC abolished its 11 institutional teams, as the team members were involved with many irregularities. “We abolished teams working at National Revenue Board (NBR), Health Department, Education Engineering Department, Dhaka City Corporations, Roads and Highways Departments, Local Government Engineering Department, Bangladesh Roads Transport Authority (BRTA), Bangladesh Government Officer-Employee Welfare Board, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation and Rajdhani Unnoyan Kartripakkha. We are trying to form two speedy teams to monitor the activities of the departments. ACC Commissioner (Investigation) Md Shahabuddin Chuppu said the teams had been disbanded, as there were widespread allegations against them.