The High Court has questioned a provision of the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) Act on the accountability of the commissioners to the chairman.
Published : 14 Jun 2015, 06:07 PM
In a ruling after Sunday’s hearing, justices Md Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Md Ashraful Kamal’s bench asked why the provision, which is inconsistent with ACC’s basic principles and Act, should not be scrapped.
Supreme Court lawyer Md Kamal Hossain filed the petition challenging Section 12 (2) of the ACC Act 2004.
The section says: “Other commissioners shall carry out the duties entrusted to them under the overall supervision and control of the chairman and the commissioners shall be accountable to the chairman.”
Hossain told bdnews24.com that secretaries to the president, Cabinet, and ACC, chairman and all commissioners had been ordered to reply to the rule within four weeks.
He said the ACC was an independent institution.
Section 5 of the ACC Act says the commission shall consist of three commissioners and the president shall appoint a chairman from among them.
Section 15 stipulates that all decision shall be taken at its meeting, Hossain pointed out.
“But, if the commissioners are made accountable to the chairman, then the independent institution’s activities will be disrupted,” he added.