Bangladesh News

Only incumbent and former government officials and wives of three of them have so far applied to face the Truth and Accountability Commission (Tac) in the 10 days since its inception for making voluntary disclosure of corruption.

A few businessmen also visited the Tac office while politicians sent lawyers and contacted the commission themselves over phone to learn about the rules and regulations for the procedure and explanation of the Voluntary Disclosure of Information Ordinance 2008, commission sources said.

Two government officials directly applied to the Tac to confess their corruption while eight applied to Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for going to the Tac that began functioning on August 3.

The ACC held a meeting yesterday afternoon to decide on sending the eight applicants to the Tac to dispose of cases on a regular basis to avoid any backlog. But the meeting could not make any decision on them as their cases need further scrutiny, Tac sources said.

The commission will hold another meeting today to discuss the matter.

Tac officials said they expect that more corruption suspects will start coming up in a couple of days with applications seeking absolution. They expect that the third week of this month will be the peak time for filing such applications before the September 1 deadline.

“We are getting applications mostly from government service-holders while businessmen and politicians are making phone calls every day to learn about the rules and regulations for facing the commission,” Tac Chairman Justice Habibur Rahman Khan told The Daily Star.

“We do not know yet why only government officials have applied to seek absolution. We hope that we would be able to explain the matter in a few days,” he said.

“We think corruption suspects will begin filing applications in a couple of days. We have officially received one or two applications for consideration,” the Tac chairman said but refused to divulge any further details regarding the applications.

ACC sources, meanwhile, said those who have applied through the ACC for facing the Tac are mostly from the Roads and Highways Department ranging between the posts of engineer and assistant engineer. Of the eight officials three have applied along with the names of their wives.

The eight applications include the two Tac had rejected since the ACC is investigating the two applicants. One of the eight persons is a retired government official.

ACC sources said these applicants are either accused in different corruption cases filed by the ACC or have been served with notices to submit their wealth statements.

The ACC is also preparing summary reports on the eight corruption suspects for sending those to the Tac.

The Tac held its third official meeting yesterday to discuss the next course of action in light of its ongoing activities.

Tac officials said on an average over 50 persons contact their office over phone everyday to learn how to confess their crime.

“We have not yet received direct response from any politician. They sent their lawyers or called the Tac office over phone, sometimes disclosing their identities and at other times being anonymous. They often query about the explanation of the Voluntary Disclosure of Information Ordinance 2008,” a Tac official said on condition that he not be named.

The idea of Tac with a five-month tenure came into being to relieve the state and the judiciary of the overwhelming burden of adjudicating a large number of graft cases and let economic and industrial development continue unhindered. The commission also aims at cutting short the time for dealing with graft cases.

The Tac will hold public and closed-door hearings of confessions depending on the situation. A suspect willing to face the commission may appoint a lawyer in their defence with Tac’s permission.

Although the Tac will deal with corruption and corruption practices, it will not deal with voluntary disclosure of offences involving arms, drugs, human trafficking, prostitution, violence, murder and rape, according to the Voluntary Disclosure of Information Ordinance 2008.

President Iajuddin Ahmed constituted the Tac on July 30 by appointing the chairman and two members–former comptroller and auditor general Asif Ali and Maj Gen (retd) Manzur Rashid Chowdhury.