Bangladesh News

Thursday’s High Court (HC) order declaring the Truth and Accountability Commission (Tac) illegal has dealt a body blow to the drive against high-profile graft suspects, observed those involved in the anti-corruption efforts.

The caretaker administration is now seriously concerned about the fate of its anti-graft campaign, they added.

Tac chief Justice Habibur Rahman Khan has said the commission would not function as long as the HC order remains operative.

Meanwhile, most of the graft cases at the special courts have been stayed for several months.

Officials concerned said the government measures against corruption have in fact ground to a halt because of the HC stay orders and ruling on Tac.

Senior counsel for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Anisul Huq said, “We must have the High Court stays on the graft cases vacated to ensure the anti-corruption drive gets going. We’ll also try to obtain a stay on the judgment regarding the Truth Commission.”

Huq, who had a role in drafting the voluntary disclosure ordinance, added, “The government has decided to appeal against the High Court order. My understanding is the commission was formed violating neither the constitution nor any other principles.”

The idea of Tac came to the fore last year as a means to allow offenders an opportunity to admit culpability and deposit their ill-Gotten wealth with the state exchequer to be exempted from prosecution.

Sources said the army-led National Coordination Committee on Corruption and Serious Crime (NCC) thought it up on realisation that it might not be possible to have all the graft suspects behind bars before the general election and ultimately the entire drive might go awry.

Legal experts said the aim with which the Truth Commission was formed could not be achieved, as politicians and high-profile businessmen did not apply for voluntary disclosure.

Only low-tier government officials and their wives, and small businessmen have applied to Tac.

The reason might be the provision that debars individuals from election once they confess to corruption.

As of Wednesday, 389 people have applied for voluntary disclosure. They include over 270 government officials and 30 businessmen.

Of them, over 200 applied through ACC, 167 through NCC, 10 through courts and 20 on their own.

So far, 259 people have admitted to possessing ill-gained assets worth around Tk 27.79 crore. Of the amount, Tk 14.46 crore has already been deposited with the public exchequer.

The commission, which began hearing the petitions on September 1, has disposed of around 60 percent of the ACC-sent cases and almost all NCC-sent cases.

Meanwhile, ACC has around 30 cases in hand to forward to Tac. The anti-graft body has been sending cases in phases following applications from those accused of graft.

NCC sources said at the moment the Committee has no cases to send to Tac. In the event of new applications from graft suspects, it [NCC] would take decisions in line with Tac’s legal status at the time of application.

ACC officials said the commission has some cases to be sent to Tac, but it did not yet decide what to do regarding those.

“What the commission will decide on those can be known after office opens Sunday,” said Shahjahan, director general of special investigation and inquiry of ACC.

As many as 244 cases were sent to the courts for trial. Of those, 122 have been tried and most of the rest remain stayed at different stages–some awaiting charge framing, some awaiting trial and some delivery of verdict.

According to last month’s statistics, all 10 special courts have only 33 cases pending. Some 89 cases have been stayed by the HC.

ACC Public Prosecutor Syed Shamim Ahsan Habib last night told The Daily Star, “More than 80 percent of the graft cases on trial have been stayed for the last four to five months.”

He said, “It’s true that the corruption drive has slowed down following the HC orders staying cases and declaring the Truth Commission illegal. We are however working to have the stays vacated and resume trials at the special courts.”

Sources said the government is trying to find out why the voluntary disclosure ordinance has been ruled illegal and unconstitutional despite being drafted and examined by legal experts for months before promulgation.

The HC in its order also declared that whatever Tac has done so far is illegal. This has made the government anxious about what would become of those who have already confessed to their offences and disclosed ill-gotten wealth.

Noted jurist Dr Shahdeen Malik told The Daily Star, “In the past, courts have validated actions taken under laws declared illegal.”

He however criticised the voluntary disclosure ordinance. He said it is a double standard when identical offences are treated differently under different laws, and it undermines the legal system.