ACC flouts legal time frame for completing probes
The Anti-Corruption Commission has developed the practice of flouting the 30-day time-frame laid in the law to complete inquiries into corruption allegations as well as completing the investigations in 180 days.
A set of fresh rules drafted by the commission to extend the time-frame to 45 days to complete the inquiries is now pending with the Cabinet Division, officials said.
The law ministry already vetted the new rules for the delayed completion of the inquiries.
On May 12, 2019, responding to a commission appeal, the Appellate Division ruled that the 180-day time-frame for completing investigations was not ‘mandatory’.
The Appellate Division also scrapped the High Court Division’s February 15, 2018 verdict that had made it mandatory to complete investigations in 180 days and quashed trial proceedings of a corruption cases following the ACC’s failure to complete the investigation within the stipulated time-frame.
The case against contractor Shafiqul Alam from Cox’s Bazaar was pending with the Chittagong Divisional Special Judges’ Court for trial.
Supreme Court lawyer Shahdeen Malik told New Age that the ACC maintained the time-frame only when the government desires.
He said that the track records show that the ACC would never complete the investigations even if the time frame was extended by three times.
The ACC Annual Report 2018 shows that 3,427 corruption allegations were left pending for inquiries in 2018 and that inquiries into only 827 allegation were completed.
The report also shows that investigations into 1,030 corruption cases were pending in 2018 when the investigations into 489 cases were completed.
The ACC’s inquiries into offshore investments of Bangladeshi companies and individuals named in Panama and Paradise papers are pending since 2016.
In April 2016, the ACC began the inquiries against 18 Bangladeshis, who according to the leaked Panama Papers invested in the British Virgin Islands, known as a tax heaven to wealthy investors.
The inquiries against the Bangladeshi offshore investors named in Paradise Papers were merged with the previous group of the offshore investors in November, said ACC officials.
On February 15, 2018 International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, better known as ICIJ named 1.10 lakh individuals and 85,000 entities, 20 of them Bangladeshis having offshore investments.
The list of offshore investors posted on the ICIJ website shows controversial businessman Moosa Bin Shamser’s Overseas Holding Company Limited made offshore investments in Malta.
On May 31, 2018, the High Court Division said that the commission’s utter failure to comply with its observations about BASIC Bank’s loan scam case probe tantamount to demeaning and flouting the orders of the highest court.
At least 53 cases relating to BASIC Bank swindling await investigations since 2015.
The serial swindling that occurred from 2009 to 2012, had robbed BASIC Bank of over Tk 6,000 crore.
The HC reprimanded the ACC for failing to achieve any tangible progress in investigations into the Basic Bank case despite strictures from it.
It said that the ACC’s conduct raises serious doubts about its sincerity in dealing with the Basic Bank loan scam.
ACC spokesman Pranab Kumar Bhattacharjee said that the time frame could not be maintained to due increasing corruption cases, delays in collecting evidence and manpower shortage.
News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net
