Truth Commission gets chief, members

Justice Habibur Rahman Khan

The government yesterday appointed chairman and members of the Truth and Accountability Commission, completing formation of the much-anticipated body to allow people exemption from prosecution in exchange for confession and surrender of ill-gotten wealth.
Justice Habibur Rahman Khan, a retired judge of the High Court, has been picked as the chairman while former comptroller and auditor general Asif Ali and Major Gen (retd) Manzur Rashid Chowdhury as members of the commission.
President Iajuddin Ahmed gave the appointments.
Earlier on May 25, the council of advisers approved the Right to Voluntary Disclosure Ordinance 2008, paving the way for forming the three-member commission.
The president promulgated the ordinance in early June. On July 6, the advisory council proposed some amendments to the ordinance.
Law Adviser AF Hassan Ariff on July 23 announced that the truth commission would start functioning in 10 days.
Meantime, the government has set up its office over three houses--Totinee, Tonmoy and Uttarayan--and appointed necessary staff.
There might be six sub-commissions to cover the entire country and reduce workload on the commission.
According to the ordinance, the commission will exist for only five months, but the proceedings initiated during its term will continue until disposal of the cases.
The military-backed caretaker administration, which launched a massive crackdown on graft suspects after taking over in January last year, aims to curb corruption and ease backlog of graft cases through quick adjudication.
More than 200 suspects, mostly political bigwigs from Awami League (AL) and BNP, have been detained in the drives.
Persons willing to voluntarily disclose their ill-gotten assets will be exempted from prosecution and imprisonment, subject to surrender of the property or equivalent amount of money to the state exchequer.
As per the ordinance, one must apply to the commission for mercy in a prescribed form, giving details of his/her moveable and immovable property and other relevant information. Those already charged with corruption or convicted however will not be able to reap the benefits.
The commission will have the authority to summon any persons believed or found to be involved in corruption on the basis of such disclosures. It will also have the authority to confiscate their ill-gotten wealth.
The commission will not generally sentence anyone after disclosure of his/her corruption to any prison term. But violation of the commission's directives will constitute an offence punishable with imprisonment for a maximum period of five years.
Persons disclosing their graft will be debarred from national or local elections and disqualified for public office or executive positions in any collective bargaining agencies, associations or banks or financial institutions for five years.
The ordinance provides for giving information about others involved in corruption, and the commission can launch an investigation on the basis of the information.