THE Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) could not prove 62 percent of its cases at the trial courts a media report on Tuesday said blaming mainly political pressure and flowed investigation in the past four years. Highlighting ACC statistics it said trials of 662 cases were completed in several courts and the accused get acquittal in 411 cases between 2012 and 2015. Insiders however pointed out many faults with the Commission’s investigators and prosecutors by scrutinizing the verdicts of some recent cases and suggested these need to be overcome soon. There are allegations that political pressure and influence from some other powerful quarters forced the ACC investigators to prepare weak and faulty charge sheets and it was not unlikely that bribe and other benefits played a major role to influence investigation, prosecution and eventual acquittal of the cases.
What many believe is that the ACC must have more skilled lawyers and committed investigators to plug the loopholes. Moreover in most cases former officials of the ACC avoid appearance in courts to testify as witnesses in response to summons, which is another reason negatively impacting the trial.
The ACC Act-2004 said the agency must have its own prosecution unit consisting of capable lawyers to conduct the cases to be tried by special judge. But ACC in the past 13 years could not form its own prosecution unit for handling corruption cases in the trial stage. Corruption within did not allow taking such move and making it happen. It is crude reality that the persons involved in corruption are powerful in terms of money and political power. They have the capacity to do or undo many things by using political pressure. To overcome these odds is not an easy job. But this job must be done with honesty and efficiency to curb corruption and make ACC a highly credible anti-graft body. If ACC itself becomes weak internally and succumb to outside pressure then corruptions will continue to multiply to destroy every public institution to bring chaos in the society.
We must agree that law is blind. Court dispenses verdict based on proper evidences. There is no place of emotion and jugglery of words in court. But in the judicial system from investigation to prosecution and trial there are loopholes at every step, which can punish an innocent and exonerate a criminal. This is what the massive failure of ACC cases suggest and there is no alternative to improve the system. In our view the ACC will do its best to exert the rule of law and punish the wrong doers.
