ACC raises 13 allegations against sacked official

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Sunday came up with 13 allegations, most of them of irregularities while inquiring graft complaints, against its sacked deputy assistant director M Sharif Uddin at a press conference.

"Sharif did not follow the ACC search and investigation guidelines during probes," ACC Secretary M Mahbub Hossain told the press conference at ACC headquarters in Dhaka.

He said when a person works with the commission, they must play by the ACC book.

Sharif Uddin came into the spotlight by investigating corruption and irregularities in Chattogram. He was terminated on 16 February, which triggered negative reactions within and outside the ACC. Besides, officials and employees of the commission formed human chains protesting at the firing.

According to media reports, his action against a powerful land syndicate in Cox's Bazar cost him his job. However, the ACC did not clear the air about the termination though the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on 17 February demanded the ACC to clarify its stance.

TIB also raised the question whether Sharif Uddin was sacked under pressure by any syndicate.

At Sunday's press briefing, the ACC secretary in response to most media queries asked journalists to go through the written allegations raised by the commission against Sharif. "I have no new words, everything is already mentioned there [written statement]," he said, as the questions went unanswered.

The ACC secretary alleged media reports about Sharif's firing are "one-sided", as those do not reflect "the actual facts".

Asked whether the 13 allegations against Sharif were ever addressed or investigated, ACC Secretary Mahbub could not provide any solid answer. He instead referred to a clause of the ACC service rules that allows the commission terminating a staff without any scope for self-defence.   

The agitated secretary tried to leave the conference as he was asked why did the commission opt for the rule while the Supreme Court is yet to decide the legality of the clause.

Whether the official was removed under any pressure by an influential quarter – ACC Secretary Mahbub in reply to that query said there was no pressure.   

"Accused in Cox's Bazar, Chattogram or Patuakhali [Sharif's workstations] are not that much powerful. Our officials are handling much bigger cases in Dhaka and other places. They did not report facing any squeeze," he claimed.
 
Unaddressed allegations  

The ACC Sunday alleged Sharif kept about Tk94 lakh, which was recovered during a drive to the land office in Cox's Bazar, in his custody for nearly one and a half years.

The ACC secretary said the sacked officer froze bank accounts of 33 graft suspects on his own.

Another allegation was Sharif delayed joining Patuakhali ACC office after being transferred from Chattogram, showing an excuse of Covid lockdown, according to the ACC secretary.

Other allegations against Sharif include half-hearted investigations, not providing enough details to support graft charges against the accused, abusing power to manage jobs for family and relatives, beating the suspects during inquiry and showing negligence to ACC orders. 

When asked why the commission did not wait until the departmental probes concluded, the secretary said, "The commission took the action as per law."

In a separate development Sunday, ACC officials formed a platform named "ACC Service Association", and submitted an application to the commission to repeal the clause of the service rules under which Sharif faced termination.