Graft rooted in compromise

The seeds of corruption are sown when bureaucrats okay files, turning a blind eye to the violations of rules, so that they can stay in their posts and gain benefits, said the chief of the Anti-Corruption Commission.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Star on March 21, ACC Chairman Iqbal Mahmood said, “You cannot expect a politician to be an expert in rules and regulations. The responsibility of bureaucrats is to inform politicians of consequences, if any, and suggest alternatives to any proposal in the light of the rules concerned. The politicians are the ones empowered to decide.”

“But in our bureaucracy we've seen that we don't want to suggest alternatives. We compromise. We try to do things superior officials and authorities want. Laws are not formulated to meet the demand of superior authorities but for the welfare of the people.”

Iqbal was in the civil service from 1981 to 2012, serving in four ministries as secretary. The government appointed him as the ACC chairman in March last year.

Talking about his experience in the civil service, he said, “If a public servant is committed to the job, there cannot be any irregularities and malpractice in the administration ... It's impossible.”

He was transferred quite often to different ministries and government agencies as he used to follow the rules and regulations strictly, he said. “If you see my bio-data, you'll find that my colleagues and I were transferred more often. The only reason was we would write 'we cannot do it as the law or the rule concerned does not permit'.”

Compromise is the main reason for corruption in the government sector, the ACC chief observed.

To help check corruption, he said, the ACC had offered its assistance to the Cabinet Division in matters of recruitment of officials, tender floating and in large development projects.

“Lower-tier government officials are particularly problematic because people go to them for service. That is why the ACC is nabbing petty officials for corruption.”

Speaking about the commission when he joined it, the ACC boss said there had been no discipline and accountability. No investigation officer met the deadlines.

“There was no accountability here [in the ACC]. Officials considered themselves as kings. No one would meet deadlines during investigation. Deadline is a big factor... Now, officials try to meet deadlines.

“There was no discipline as well. It was like a fish market. People used to come and go easily. Both accused and lobbyists used to visit the office frequently.”

The chairman worked hard to change all these, restricted visitors' movement and secured the commission office with bio-metric entrance system.

“Internal discipline is needed … We've to maintain secrecy for the sake of investigation,” he said.

Iqbal said the ACC had been able to maintain a stable performance in the last one year. For example, he said, about 12,000 complaints were filed in 2015, and the ACC had served notices in almost every case.

Earlier, the accused were summoned to the office, a practice that he said used to make people feel scared.

“We stopped the practice. I ordered my officers to go to the accused. However, a person will have to come here for further clarification if needed.”

Iqbal requested people, who had been harassed by any ACC official, to go to the commission for remedy.

“Making an arrest is not the issue. We summon suspects to hear their version. But when they don't come, even after a notice had been served, or remain at large, only then we arrest them.”

The number of arrests, he said, had reduced as people were now going to the ACC to testify.

Asked why people accused of large-scale corruption were not being arrested, he said, “Until a person's involvement is found in investigation, we don't submit charge sheet.”

Referring to the Basic Bank loan scam, he said the money was misappropriated at several steps. “It has become difficult to unearth the actual incident and find where the money has gone. You cannot implicate anyone based on assumption.”

About the recent trend of corruption through online transactions, he said, “We've no expertise in cyber crime. We're going to form a detective unit, which will be trained in detecting corruption done online.”

The ACC was going to open an IT wing that would track government officials taking bribes through mobile banking channels or through any other electronic means, the chairman said.

About his one-year experience of serving in the anti-graft body, Iqbal said, “I've both good and bad experiences. Good in the sense that we've been able to make people fear of being embarrassed. We've been able to give the message that if you indulge in corruption, you could be arrested and subsequently disgraced in society.”

“There is no question of being complacent ... We're yet to crack the syndicate of corrupt officials in my institution. It's a failure which is hard to explain.”

“There are a few officials who are not corrupt here. However, we've taken some pragmatic actions and handed down punishment to some officials. I think we've become able to rein in unbridled corruption.”

The ACC boss plans to transform the commission into a systematic one.

“We want to develop the commission on the basis of a proper system. If I'm on leave for a month, the system will continue to work by itself. By the time the tenure of the current commission expires, we want to take the commission to a new height where persons won't matter anymore.”

“We still have miles to go. It might not be possible to implement all these by one commission,” he added.