The Anti-Corruption Commission has no jurisdiction to bring back BNP’s senior vice chairman Tarique Rahman from abroad.“It is the responsibility of the government to bring back Tarique Rahman in the country. Though the court issued warrant of arrest against him, the commission has no jurisdiction to bring back him,” said ACC secretary Md Fayzur Rahman Chowdhury while briefing reporters at the Media Centre on Thursday.
Replying to a question, he said the ACC has been conducting the case against Tarique Rahman based on specific allegation and now it is a sub-judice matter.
Referring to news report on bringing Tarique Rahman back to the country through Interpol, the ACC official reiterated that it is the law enforcement agencies’ duty to bring him back to the country as it is not the duty of the commission.
The ACC secretary parried a question to answer why the ACC didn’t apply it power to arrest Tarique Rahman.
He however said that now it is a matter of court which would take its due process.
A special judge’s court on May 26 issued a warrant of arrest and directed the police to produce Tarique Rahman before the court through the Interpol. It followed an application by ACC lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajal.
The ACC secretary said seven graft cases were resolved in court in June last where only two alleged graft suspects were convicted and the remaining five escaped from graft charges.
Asked why the ACC investigation officers could not provide sufficient evidence against graft accused before court, he said the Commission has already asked its legal and prosecution wing to find out the reasons behind the poor investigation by the ACC officials.
“We’ll find out the reasons how the graft accused mange to escape from the court. If we find any negligence in conducting investigation, we’ll take action against the ACC investigator,” he added.
Chowdhury said the Commission has already taken departmental actions against some officials on charge of their negligence in performing their duty, and irregularities.
