The newly appointed chairman of Anti-Corruption Commission Md Bodiuzzaman on Thursday said no political case irrespective of party identity would be withdrawn as per the recommendation of the government so long as he would be there as the chief of the institution.Addressing his first press meet a day after his appointment as the chief of the ACC, the new ACC boss said the investigations conducted by the ACC are free from any political bias.
ACC commissioner Md Bodiuzzaman was appointed the chairman of the anti-graft body on Wednesday.
He said the ACC files cases after conducting enquiries into graft allegations and its investigators submit charge-sheets after completing investigations.
He said the ACC carries out probe into the graft charges regardless of their political backgrounds or identities of accused.
The ACC chief informed, the commission has so far received over 300 requests from the national committee for withdrawal of politically-motivated cases. “But the commission refused to accept the requests as it has already submitted chargesheets in these cases,” he added.
He however said that they could not do anything, if the accused get orders in favour of them from the High Court in such cases.
Replying to a question, he identified the lengthy procedure of the existing judicial system as one of the main reasons behind the ineffectiveness of the commission.
The new boss of the anti-graft watchdog called upon the government to consider the amendment on the Anti-Corruption Law 2004, which is ready to be placed before Parliament.
“If the proposed bill is adopted in Parliament, we hope, the new law will minimise the complexities,” he said.
Regarding the much-talked-about Padma Bridge corruption conspiracy case, he said an ACC team during their Canada visit gathered some information, which is inadequate.
“We hope that we will be able to gather more information after a case, which is under trial in a Canadian court, is settled. So, it’ll take time to complete the investigation into the Padma Bridge graft case,” he added.
About the Hallmark-Destiny scams, he said the ACC investigation teams would submit their investigation reports to the Commission soon.
Asked to comment on a remark of of immediate past ACC chairman Ghulam Rahman, he said the previous chairman might have termed the commission a claw and toothless tiger as its effectiveness was affected due to delay in the legal process.
Replying to a question, he said the commission has an enquiry cell to conduct inquiries against ACC officials. “If we find any specific complaint against any ACC official, we will take legal action against him or her,” he added.
(Staff Reporter)
