Staff Reporter :
The Anti-Corruption Commission [ACC], in its annual report -2015 submitted recently to President Abdul Hamid, has suggested to form an independent Judicial Commission to monitor police activities for making it a people-friendly force reducing public sufferings.
“There are a lot of allegations against police and these are nothing new. So, we [ACC] have suggested to form a Commission to monitor police activities. We think, if it is formed, the police will be more pro-people and public will get more service from them,” ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmood said.
He was addressing a press conference, the first ever after taking charge of the anti-graft body in March 14 this year, at ACC headquarters in the city’s Segun Bagicha on Wednesday.
The ACC Chief said: “In the annual report, the ACC also suggested to fix the timeframe for investigation and trial of the cases under the Code of Criminal Procedure. Side by side, we’ve also proposed to fix the time limit for disposal of the cases under the Code of Civil Procedure.”
Iqbal Mahmood said that the task of police is very important, as they solve problems. “We think if their activities are brought under the monitoring of an independent Commission, there will be a check and balance.”
Expressing his determination to go tough against all sorts of corruptions, he said: “Not only the influential persons, everyone who is involved in the corruption will be brought to the book.”
Replying to a query of newsmen over the latest punishment of ruling party lawmaker Abdur Rahman Bodi, he said: “I’ve no comment over the judgment of court. But we expect that the accused will be punished in each and every case.”
Just an hour before the press conference, a Dhaka court awarded three years imprisonment and Taka 10 lakh fine to Awami League lawmaker from Teknaf and Ukhiya Constituency at Cox’s Bazar Abdur Rahman Bodi for hiding information about his wealth.
Meanwhile, clarifying the stance of ACC, he said: “Several complaints are filed in the ACC. But all complaints are not enlisted in the schedule. For that reason, the degree of punishment stays lower in many cases after investigation.”
“To increase the scale of punishment to the culprits, we’ve appointed a new lawyer changing the old one. Our main task is prevention of corruption. Clamp down of corruption is only a part of our whole tasks,” he said.
Taking another question about the delay of cases relating to BASIC Bank scam, the ACC Chairman said: “It’s a critical case. We’re working over the matter….It is true that we’ve been facing manpower shortage.”
