Gulam Rabbani :
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) cannot win in all cases. But many individuals and organizations are suffering due to the slow pace of investigation and case settlement of the anti-graft body. Several institutions are now closed due to the unsolved cases those involved in the livelihood of thousands of people.
More transparency and accountability need to be ensured in the functions of the organisation, said the concerned people.
Officials of the ACC or any counsel of the organisation do not have any exact statistics on how many cases have been filed so far by the organisation. However, the statistics of the cases of the last few years are in their annual reports.
A total of 299 cases filed by the organisation were disposed of in the courts of special judges from January to November in 2019 whereas number of the under trial cases was 3386 for the same time. So, 3087 cases were unresolved till November in 2019.
The average case disposing rate of the ACC in 2019 is only 8.83 per cent.
Among those under trial cases, 557 were filed by the now defunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC). The bureau was defunct in 2004 means the cases were filed before that time. Only 35 cases out of these 557 cases were disposed of in 2019. That means more 522 cases are still pending in the courts for more than 15 years.
In 2018, only 249 cases filed by the organisation were disposed of in the courts of special judges whereas number of the under trial cases was 3397 in that year. So, total 3148 cases were unresolved by the same time.
The average case disposing rate of the ACC in 2018 is only 7.33 per cent.
Among the under trial cases of 2018, the BAC filed 597 cases. Only 40 cases out of these 597 cases were disposed of in 2018. That means more 557 cases were still pending in the courts for more than 14 years.
According to the latest statistics updated in the website of the ACC, a total of 3256 cases were still pending in the trial courts across the country after the month of January in 2020.
In the last January, the ratio of disposing of the cases was only 1.0 per cent. But this slow pace of disposing of the cases is harming many individuals and organisations.
In a statistics collected from the ACC said, the courts which deal with the ACC cases fined Tk 3497.06 crore to the accused in the 191 cases in 2019 and seized Tk 436.88 crore at the same year.
The courts across the country fined Tk 139.94 crore to the 288 accused persons in 151 cases in 2018 and seized Tk 13.34 crore at the same year.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of the Transparency International Bangladesh, said, “The responsibility for delaying in handling of corruption cases and the low rates of disposal may not necessarily shoulder upon the ACC alone. The proverbial logjams and perennial complications in the law enforcement and justice system in general and opportunity to manipulate the process by the powerful are also responsible behind the delaying.”
He also said, “Be that as it may, the long delays, often without the light at the end of the tunnel cause denial of justice for the aggrieved persons and victims as well as accountability of the alleged perpetrators of corruption are not ensured. Apart from the miseries caused to the people employed by entities run by the allegedly corrupt individuals, indefinite delays and deadlock cause erosion of trust in the people on institutions like the ACC, law-enforcement bodies and justice system. In the end, the corrupt people enjoy impunity and as a result corruption flourishes further.”
Sources said, the case filed against Destiny, a company that conducts business in the country following multi-level marketing system, has not been settled even in eight years.
Destiny did not return any money to anyone who invested in the company’s various schemes, even though it had been closed for a long time. But about half a crore (45 lakh) people are involved with the company including its buyers, distributors and investors.
The ACC filed the cases against 22 officials of Destiny Group on July 31, 2012 with Kalabagan Police Station.
Many other cases like the case of the Destiny Group are also pending for a long period. Several people involved in these organizations may be innocent but not getting any remedy as the organisations are closed.
Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan, a senior counsel of the ACC, said, “We are trying to conduct the cases of the ACC properly. But the defendants take time in various steps while handling a case and it caused a case delayed.”
The ACC recently filed cases against Regent Group owner Mohammad Shahed and JKG Health Care Chairman Dr Sabrina Arif Chowdhury for their fraudulent roles in issuing Covid-19 fake test certificates and other irregularities. But criticism raised at that time as the organization didn’t accuse any person who are patronising them behind the screen.
