By The Numbers
Response to truth commission
Awaiting a concrete decision.
THE Truth and Accountability Commission (TAC), the newest body for dealing with corruption charges in the country, started operating from August 3, to let the people voluntarily confess to their corruption and to seek clemency by depositing their ill-gotten wealth to the state exchequer. The council of advisers to the caretaker government, in a meeting held on May 25, approved the proposal to constitute the TAC under the Voluntary Disclosure Ordinance 2008, so that the people charged with corruption might confess their guilt and have their punishment reduced and also to ease backlog of corruption cases through quick adjudication. In fact, the idea of TAC came into being to relieve the judiciary from the overwhelming burden of adjudicating a huge number of corruption cases and to salvage the economy. The move made earlier at the highest level of the interim government, for allaying the fear among the business community following the massive crackdown on corrupt suspects, had failed to give impetus to the economy. There was a mixed reaction to the idea of TAC among the politicians, academics, lawyers, and business people, who furiously debated its political and economic implications. The country's apex trade body, FBCCI, welcomed the government's decision to set up a truth commission while politicians strongly opposed it. The economists of the country, however, gave a guarded reaction to the idea. The key leaders of the major political parties were critical of the proposed body aiming to give corrupt businessmen a chance to escape punishment in exchange of money, and expressed doubts whether the proposed commission would be able to function properly. President Iajuddin Ahmed constituted the TAC on July 30 by appointing its chairman and two members. Justice Habibur Rahman Khan, a retired judge of the High Court, has been picked as its chairman and former comptroller and auditor general Asif Ali and Major General (retd) Manzur Rashid Chowdhury as members. They assumed office on August 3 and issued a public notice asking the corrupt to come up to take the advantage of clemency by September 1, without giving more details. "This is a great opportunity for us, for the people of Bangladesh. Let people come here and be purified by confessing to their corruption, if they feel repentant, and let us embark on a new journey to working for the people and for the welfare of the country," said the TAC chairman after starting its functioning. But the corrupt did not respond to such a clarion call. The response was frustratingly low. Confusion over the jurisdiction of the ACC and the TAC may be a reason for such a poor response. According to TAC provisions, persons willing to voluntarily disclose their ill-gotten wealth will be exempted from prosecution and imprisonment, subject to surrender of the wealth or equivalent amount of money to the state exchequer. But violation of the TAC's directives will constitute an offence punishable with imprisonment for a maximum period of five years. The TAC has also got the authority to hold public hearings as well as closed-door hearings of confessions considering the specific situations. The suspect willing to face the TAC may engage a lawyer in his or her defence, with permission from TAC. Persons already charged with corruption, or convicted in a case, will not have recourse to the TAC. But if a corruption suspect applies to the court for facing the TAC before indictment, it will consider it along with others coming through the ACC and the National Coordination Committee (NCC) on serious corruption charges. Politicians facing no corruption cases or investigations will not be barred from contesting in election if they voluntarily face TAC said its boss, who was apparently unhappy with the poor response from the politicians. Only 10 incumbent and former government officials and wives of three of them applied to face the TAC in the 10 days since its inception. Two government officials applied to TAC directly, while others applied through the ACC. The ACC, on August 14, sent another list of 17 corruption suspects to the TAC for considering their applications for clemency. The NCC also sent a list of 145 corruption suspects on August 25. With them, the number of corruption suspects applying for clemency stands at 183 as on August 25. Only four persons applied to TAC directly while the others applied through the ACC and the NCC. The persons who have so far applied are government officials from the Roads and Highways Department, Titas Gas, Rural Power Distribution Company, Dhaka Electricity Supply Authority, Telecommunications Company Ltd., Land Registration Department, Forest Department, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority and the Chittagong Port Authority. Out of 183 applications received until August 26, 145 were referred by the NCC and 34 by the ACC. They are the suspects against whom the ACC was preparing to file cases, or had served notice to, asking them to submit wealth statement. In fact, these corrupt individuals have not voluntarily responded to the TAC. Against the backdrop of many corruption suspects getting bail from the High Court and speculation that the TAC might be a body formed to protect particular corrupt individuals, it is not only facing the challenge of its legality in the High Court but is also facing a crisis of confidence Confusion over the power and jurisdictions of ACC and the TAC in dealing with corruption charges is also another reason of poor response from the corruption suspects in facing the TAC. Therefore, the government now needs to specify the power and jurisdiction of the ACC and the TAC in order to remove all confusions and also to build confidence in the TAC.
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