The Anti-Corruption Commission is yet to take any measures to scrutinise the affidavits submitted by the candidates before the 12th parliament elections and the upazila parishad polls, despite the information of an abnormal rise in wealth for many candidates.
The affidavits show that the incomes of many candidates have doubled, tripled, or even further increased during their stay in power over the years, raising doubt about the sources and methods of amassing wealth.
Apart from this, the affidavits of some candidates also show them as poor with no cars or houses, which has also raised doubts about the veracity of the information, while the information of many candidates is mismatched with their income tax returns.
Many candidates also showed abnormally low prices for their flats, plots, and ornaments in the affidavits.
The affidavits submitted by the candidates still await scrutiny, as the commission has yet to pay any heed to the repeated calls from good governance campaigners.
Before the 12th parliament polls, ACC chairman Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah told journalists twice鈥攆irst in March 2023 and second time on January 1鈥攖hat they would carry out an investigation into the affidavits.
However, five months have elapsed since the national elections held on January 7, but there has been no visible step by the commission to scrutinise the election affidavits.
When asked, ACC chairman Moinuddin Abdullah told 抖阴精品 that they would not carry out any inquiry and investigation over the election affidavits of the candidates spontaneously until they received specific allegations of amassing illegal wealth by any candidate.
Mentioning the manpower crisis of the commission, he said that if any specific allegation was made to the commission, they would scrutinise the affidavit of the candidate.
The ACC chairman also commented that the wealth of a candidate usually could increase up to 100 per cent if he or she was in power for a time or had a business, and that is a normal matter.
Analysing the affidavits of candidates for the 12th national election, Transparency International Bangladesh released a report that said the election witnessed 571 candidates with liquid assets of Tk 1 crore or more, up from 522 in 2018 and 274 in the 2008 election.
Food minister Sadhan Chandra Majumdar saw the highest increase in wealth鈥攂y 6,350.18 per cent鈥攐ver the past 15 years, while law minister Anisul Huq saw his wealth go up by 1,063 per cent in five years, the highest among ministers and state ministers.
Immediate past commerce minister Tipu Munshi saw the highest bump in income among ministers and state ministers since 2018, with his annual income increasing by 2,131.12 per cent.
Among lawmakers, Anwar Hossain, a candidate聽 from Pirojpur-2, has seen the highest increase in income over the past 15 years, with his annual earnings increasing by 7,116.3 per cent.
The TIB also said that they have reliable information about a minister [former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed], who was also an AL candidate in the January 7 election, and his wife having joint ownership of six companies abroad that include, among others, real estate businesses, but he did not declare these ownerships worth Tk 2,000 crore in his affidavit.
TIB also analysed the affidavits of the candidates in the three phases of the upazila parishad polls held in May and released reports where the abnormal rise in wealth and income of many candidates was shown.
In the first phase of the polls, the movable assets of Gaibandha鈥檚 Fulchhar upazila chairman, GM Selim Parvaj, increased from Tk 3 lakh in 2019 to Tk 1.37 crore in 2024鈥攁n increase of more than 4,200 per cent in his five-year tenure.
In the second phase, the movable assets of Jhalakati Sadar upazila chairman Khan Arifur Rahman increased from Tk 15 lakh in 2019 to Tk 17.53 crore in 2024鈥攁n increase of 11,666 per cent in five years, while Sonali Khatun, the female vice-chairman candidate of Daulatpur, saw her assets increase by 10,900 per cent.
TIB also found a mismatch between the affidavits and income tax returns of many wealthy candidates in the third phase of the election.
TIB found that the maximum income of chairman candidate Nurul Alam from Teknaf in Cox鈥檚 Bazar increased by 10,422 per cent in the third phase.
The immovable asset was increased by the maximum of chairman candidate Mahmudul Hasan from Delduar in Tangail by 9,850 per cent in five years.
The immovable asset of Rafiqul Islam Talukder, a vice-chairman candidate from Agailjhara in Barishal, was increased by 18,793 per cent in 10 years.
TIB also found in the third phase that incumbent public representatives experienced a marked increase in income and assets over the past five years compared to new candidates.
This pattern suggests a direct correlation between holding political office and wealth accumulation, it said.
Over the past decade, the income of previously elected local representatives has increased by 681.37 per cent and movable assets by 1010.12 per cent.
In contrast, non-elected candidates have seen income grow by only 71.71 per cent and assets by 31.35 per cent.
A total of 106 candidates in the third phase have assets exceeding Tk 1 crore, compared to 116 in the second and 116 in the third phase.
According to the law, citizens can own a maximum of 100 bighas, or 33 acres of land, but at least 18 candidates were found to possess land exceeding this limit in the three phases of the upazila polls.
TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman said that it was the responsibility of the state agencies including the ACC, to look into the abnormal increase in wealth of the candidates in the polls.
鈥楾he institutions should investigate the wealth of candidates spontaneously, but they do not do it even after different organisations release the data,鈥� he added.
A 2005 ruling of the High Court bench led by Justice Abdul Matin made the submission of affidavits with eight kinds of information compulsory for candidates in national elections.
Since the poll affidavits have been introduced, civil society and good governance campaigners have been alleging that no state agencies, including the ACC, Election Commission, and National Board of Revenue, have scrutinised the affidavits.
Former adviser to the caretaker government, M Hafizuddin Khan said, 鈥楾he goal of submitting election affidavits by candidates is not fulfilled as they are not brought under the scrutiny of the authorities concerned.鈥�
鈥楾he truth will never be known if the affidavits remain unchecked and keep gathering dust,鈥� said the retired civil servant, urging the authorities concerned to take necessary steps in this regard.