Government forms panel to suggest names for ACC chairman, commissioners

The committee includes a former cabinet secretary as a member

The government has formed a selection committee to recommend candidates for the position of chairman and commissioners of the Anti-Corruption Commission.

The committee was constituted under Section 7 of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004, said the Cabinet Division in a notification on Sunday.

Supreme Court Appellate Division Justice Md Rezaul Haque has been appointed as the head of the committee.

The other members are High Court Division Justice Farah Mahbub, Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh Md Nurul Islam, Public Service Commission, or PSC, Chairman Mobasser Monem, and former Cabinet Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain.

The selection panel has been tasked with recommending at least two names for each vacant position, the statement read.

The list will be submitted to the president for final approval, with decisions based on the consensus of at least three of the committee members present at the meeting, it added.

The quorum for the selection committee is set at four members.

The Cabinet Division will provide the committee with necessary administrative support throughout the selection process.

Muhammad Moinuddin Abdullah, the then chairman of the ACC, along with commissioners Asia Khatoon and Jahurul Haque, resigned on Oct 29, citing personal reasons.

Moinuddin, a former senior secretary of the agriculture ministry, had been appointed the ACC chairman by the president on Mar 3, 2021.

Although appointed for a five-year term, the three members had to step down one and a half years before their tenure ended due to changing circumstances.

The ACC chairman holds the same status and benefits as a judge of the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, while the commissioners are of equal rank to High Court Division judges.