The fight against corruption risks losing even more ground due to amendments proposed to the graft law, which could expand the executive control over the watchdog and disrupt its operations.
The Anti-Corruption Commission itself has now proposed these legislative changes as the commission prepared a draft amendment to the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004.
The draft amendment follows a decision by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party government, roughly three months ago, blocking the passage of an earlier ordinance in the new Jatiya Sangsad, which had been designed to strengthen the commission’s powers.
Drafted after weeks of deliberation under the interim government, the ordinance had aimed to restructure the ACC to reflect its original vision as an independent and autonomous watchdog.
Independent lawmaker Rumeen Farhana on Monday told the Jatiya Sangsad that neither the previous Awami League government nor the current post-uprising administration had shown genuine commitment to strengthen the Anti-Corruption Commission, alleging that political interests had consistently weakened the institution.
The ACC has prepared the draft amendment to the law on the commission, proposing to authorise the ACC secretary to exercise the commission’s authority in the event that the commission remains vacant.
Criticising the proposal, experts said that allowing a government-appointed secretary to perform the functions of the commission would undermine the ACC’s independence and neutrality.
Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman told New Age on Saturday, ‘This proposal is yet another nail in the coffin of aspirations for an independent ACC.’
It will not only undermine the ACC authority by providing legal and institutional mandate of bureaucratic authority during the absence of the commission, but also by creating an undue moral and psychological advantage of bureaucrats over the commission in normal circumstances, too, TIB chief further said.
‘Questions may be raised if this is an outcome of a collusive move by motivated quarters to keep non-functional the anti-corruption watchdog for an unprecedented long period of over three months, allowing the bureaucracy-led ACC to come up with this suicidal amendment plan,’ he added.
If this proposal is approved, said Iftekharuzzaman, it will also be self-defeating for the government that has placed eliminating corruption at the core of its election manifesto.
The ACC, over the years, frequently grabbed headlines, often accompanied by cartoons purportedly conveying the message that the supposedly omnipotent body was reduced to a toothless tiger, mainly through legal amendments.
The commission has remained without a chairman and commissioners for more than three months, leaving the commission’s operations almost stalled.
By law, the ACC decisions must be approved by the commissioners, who are appointed by the president after they are selected by a search committee through a process intended to guarantee their neutrality.
The proposed amendment seeks to empower the secretary to assume the duties of the chairman and commissioners indefinitely, effectively nullifying the need for such a commission altogether.
Appointed by the government, the secretary under the current law is assigned to carry out official functions only, implementing the decision taken by the commission.
According to the draft, new subsection (4) is proposed under the section 10 of the ACC Act, stating that if the commission becomes completely vacant due to unavoidable circumstances, the ACC secretary shall be authorised to continue the commission’s activities after consulting the director generals and thus take necessary decisions.
The secretary would subsequently report all actions to the newly constituted commission while those actions would be deemed decisions of the commission.
Former ACC director general Moyeedul Islam described the proposal as highly objectionable and unacceptable.
‘The proposed subsection (4) under the section 10, which seeks to empower the secretary during the periods when the commission remains vacant, reflects an improper intention,’ he said.
He warned that the amendment could create opportunities to keep the commission vacant for an extended period while allowing a government-appointed secretary to perform all functions of the commission.
‘Such a provision would seriously undermine the ACC’s independence, autonomy, and neutrality,’ he added.
Under the section 21 of the existing law, an ACC officer, with court approval, can arrest a person if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the person owns or controls assets that do not match his or her declared income. But the ACC in the draft amendment proposed for repealing the section 21.
The ACC draft also proposes reducing the tenure of the ACC chairman and commissioners from five years to four.
The amendment further proposes repealing the section 32A of the ACC Act, 2004 that requires the compliance with the section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before filing cases against judges, magistrates and government officials.
The High Court had earlier declared the provision illegal.
The draft also proposed abolishing the mandatory requirement under the section 20A to complete ACC investigations within 120 days.
Criticising the requirement, ex-DG Moyeedul Islam said that the 120-day period was given aiming to complete investigation quickly and make the officials concerned responsible for any delays.
If the compulsion is withdrawn, then the investigation will be delayed for years while the official cannot be made responsible for the delay, said Moyeedul.
The ACC has further proposed an amendment to the section 2 of the law regarding ‘undercover inquiry.’
It defines undercover inquiry as an investigation carried out by the commission or its authorised officers, where the investigator’s identity is kept secret to observe suspicious activities or information, gather evidence, and verify the truth of the matter in question, subject to other applicable laws.
The amendment also seeks to repeal the section 28(c), which criminalises the submission of information that later proves to be false or unverified and can potentially trigger an investigation or prosecution.
The ACC amendment seeks to expand its jurisdiction in money laundering-related offences as currently it is assigned to work only on bribery- and corruption-related money laundering offences.
The amendment proposes to include in the ACC jurisdiction also crimes involving government property and public interest, or offences committed by public servants while performing their duties.
These offences include fraud, forgery, document falsification, money laundering, customs and tax violations, and capital market offences, such as using confidential price-sensitive information before it is made public or manipulating the stock market for personal or institutional gains.
The ACC also proposed in the draft to amend the section 15, stipulating that the commission quorum will comprise the chairman and a commissioner instead of the existing provision of comprising the chairman and two commissioners.
The ACC also proposed that the law shall apply to any person, whether a citizen of Bangladesh or not, who commits any offence specified in the ACC Act either while being present in Bangladesh or from outside Bangladesh.
It also proposed to amend the section 8, proposing for disqualifying anyone to become ACC commissioner if he or she is a citizen or taken approval to live permanently in a foreign country.
The individual who invested abroad without approval of appropriate authorities will also be ineligible to be commissioner.
ACC secretary Mohammad Khaled Rahim, however, said that the commission had only prepared a draft amendment and kept it ready for submission whenever the relevant authorities would seek the ACC proposals regarding legal reforms.
ACC officials further said that the Cabinet Division had already sought the commission’s recommendations regarding amendments to the law.
Following the request, ACC secretary and senior officials held a meeting on May 7 and prepared the draft amendment.
The proposal will now be sent to the Cabinet Division. After scrutiny by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the amendment will be placed before the cabinet and later introduced in the Jatiya Sangsad as a bill, ACC officials said.
The interim government had earlier promulgated an ordinance aimed at strengthening the ACC.
However, the anti-corruption ordinance was among the 20 ordinances that lost validity after failing to secure parliamentary approval within the constitutionally mandated timeframe during the first session of parliament on April 11.
Following the resignation of the ACC commission led by its chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen on March 3 after the BNP government assumed office, the commission has remained without any commissioners for more than three months, affecting its operations.
Home minister Salahuddin Ahmed, however, on Monday told the Jatiya Sangsad that they have started a process to appoint the ACC commissioners.
He said that a search committee to appoint the commissioners would be formed soon as they sent a letter to the chief justice to nominate his representative.
