IT IS disappointing that the government has made no progress in implementing the recommendations that the Anti-Corruption Reform Commission made to strengthen the Anti-Corruption Commission and free it from political and bureaucratic influences. The Anti-Corruption Reform Commission, formed by the interim government, submitted its report to the chief adviser on January 15. The commission proposed 47 recommendations, categorised into short-, medium- and long-term measures, to make the ACC more dynamic and more capable in fighting corruption. It recommended significant changes in the agency鈥檚 structure and operations, its recognition as a constitutional body and its insulation from political and bureaucratic influence. Yet all the recommendations in every category remain unimplemented. This is deplorable given that corruption in all sectors has become institutionalised and that the interim government, which took office following a mass uprising that toppled the kleptocratic and authoritarian Awami League regime, had assured citizens that it would address corruption. What is also deplorable about the government鈥檚 failure to implement the recommendations is that most of them, unlike those proposed by other commissions and which are political in nature, do not require consensus among political parties. And yet, seven months after the submission of the report, there has been no progress.
The chief adviser鈥檚 press wing, in a recent briefing, claimed that the government had implemented the ACC reform commission鈥檚 recommendation regarding the abolition of the mandatory pre-inquiry system before filing an ACC case and the abolition of section 32A of the Anti-Corruption Act. The claim, however, is not entirely true as, according to ACC officials, the commission was not following the mandatory pre-inquiry system since the publication of the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Rules 2019, as section 10(cha) of the rules skips mandatory pre-inquiry. The ACC also did away with section 32A, which required approval before the commission could investigate or file charges against certain public officials, including judges and magistrates, following a High Court verdict in this regard in 2021. In the meantime, there has been a sharp decline in the conviction rate in corruption cases to a worrying 47 per cent in 2024, the lowest in eight years, down from 57.18 per cent in 2023. The disposal of cases has also registered a marked decline, with only 8.65 per cent of cases disposed of in 2024, down from 10.17 per cent in 2023. The commission has also reported a significant backlog of corruption cases pending before lower courts.
The government should realise that without implementing the required reforms in the structure and operations of the anti-corruption agency, the agency will remain ineffective and fail to deliver. The government must, therefore, immediately implement the recommendations.