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Download PDF The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has started collecting information regarding corruption in various service-oriented institutions.
ACC Director General (administration) Col Hanif Iqbal during a routine press briefing at the ACC headquarters yesterday confirmed the ACC move taken as part of its drive to root out institutional corruption.
Meanwhile, the ACC approved the filing of three cases against three people including one against former home minister Altaf Hossain Choudhury in connection with amassing wealth illegally and concealing wealth information in the statement submitted to the commission.
The drive is the first ever initiative by the anti-corruption body in combating institutional corruption.
“The ACC would work as a specialist institution against institutional corruption. As the process is time-consuming, the ACC is preparing a database so that the drive against institutional corruption could go on all the time,” Hanif Iqbal told The Daily Star.
The director general, however, refused to reveal names of these organisations for the sake of a flawless investigation and so that the drive does not panic people.
“All organisations plagued with corruption will be brought under the drive… slowly and gradually,” he added.
Explaining how the commission is selecting organisations for investigation, he said, “The ACC is holding mass communication programmes against graft and at the same time trying to know about people’s perception of different service-oriented organisations. Negative public perception would be considered in selecting an institution.”
Meanwhile, ACC sources said at the beginning the ACC would focus its probe into corruption in institutions related to education, health, and fertiliser production and distribution.
The commission is also collecting information regarding corruption at Power Development Board (PDB), Dhaka Electricity Supply Authority (Desa), Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa), Telegraph & Telephone Board, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Ltd, sources revealed.
The ACC will analyse different systems of organisations to find out how the corruption was institutionalised there. Then it will look into different issues of the institution like appointment process to identify the individual offenders.
In case of an individual offender identified during the drive, the ACC might go for legal actions against the person.
The ACC sources say they would conduct their investigation in accordance with the work pattern of an organisation. For instance, if an organisation’s task is related to procurement, the commission will check transparency in its procurement process.
On completion of an investigation, the commission will suggest remedial measures for the government to check further corruption.
ACC APPROVES CASES FOR FILING
The First Information Report (FIR) of the case approved to be filed against Altaf Hossain Choudhury mentions that Altaf concealed information about wealth worth Tk 59 lakh in the wealth statement submitted to the commission.
The FIR also added that he amassed property worth Tk 2.56 crore beyond his known sources of income.
The ACC will also file a case against Khulna City Corporation Mayor Aminur Haque for concealing information about his wealth worth Tk 53.05 lakh and amassing wealth worth Tk 74.22 lakh illegally.
Another FIR approved yesterday was against former deputy commissioner Md Hasan in connection with amassing Tk 5.35 crore beyond his known sources of income and concealing information about his wealth in the statement submitted to the commission.
The cases will be filed under sections 26 (2), 27 (1) of ACC act and 15 d (5) of Emergency Power Rules.
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