Terming the passage of the Anti-Corruption Commission (Amendment) Bill 2013 as “unconstitutional”, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on Tuesday urged the President not to sign it. “The government wants to amend the Act so that it can satisfy persons who will assist the ruling party to stay in power,” TIB chairman advocate Sultana Kamal said. She was speaking at a press conference at the BRAC Inn Centre in the city.
“The amendment will undermine people’s right and independence of the ACC. It will become extremely difficult to get permission from the government to file a graft case against any civil servant. The amended law will be discriminatory as it will provide special privileges to a section,” Kamal said.
“The amendment bill was passed in Parliament ignoring people’s demands. If it becomes law, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) will turn into a toothless tiger and will not be able to work independently,” Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of TIB, said. “The Awami League, in its election manifesto in 2008, pledged to strengthen the ACC and curb corruption. This had inspired the people, but now they are disappointed with such an amendment,” he said.
“The amendment of the provisions 32(2) and 32 (Ka) of the Act is unconstitutional, discriminatory, deceptive, suicidal and disappointing,” he said. “Rule 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) has been incorporated in the amendment bill. So, no case can be filed against a judge, magistrate or civil servant without government’s permission. The government did not give any scope to those who were directly or indirectly involved in the amendment of the Act. The Act has been passed in Parliament by voice vote and the government has ignored public interest,” he said.
“It has been clearly stated in the Constitution that all citizens are equal before the law. The amendment of the law is virtually discriminatory as such provisions have been amended to provide special privileges to civil servants,” he said.
He said the government’s move to take away the ACC’s powers through the amendment is designed to deceive the people. “The provision of the bill to take prior government approval to file any corruption case against any public servant is contradictory to the Constitution, and unequal as Section 24 of the ACC Act 2004 states that the ACC will work independently. However, as per the new bill, it will lose its independence,” he added.
He urged the President not to sign the bill and take steps to reconsider it. Appreciating some positive provisions in the Act, he said: “The government has incorporated some positive provisions in the amended Act, but these are not very significant considering the provisions 32(2) and 32 (Ka). It is clear that the ACC will become a toothless tiger.”
-With The Independent input
