THE recent release of a large number of accused in corruption cases on bail, as well as stay orders on many other cases, has greatly affected the image of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which had started its vigorous drive against corruption after the 1/11 changeover. More than 150 high-profile individuals accused in corruption cases filed by the ACC got bail from the High Court (HC) in the last two months, and were released from jail.
The HC has also stayed proceedings of at least 120 corruption cases during this period, following petitions filled by the accused. The ACC chairman, however, has admitted that the image of toughness of the commission is getting dented due to recent bail binge and stay order on the corruption cases filed against the bigwigs.
The caretaker government (CTG) laid down an ambitious agenda of combating corruption as the pervasive corruption and plundering of national wealth by a handful of dishonest people had pushed the economy, society and politics to a disastrous state. Accordingly, the ACC started its cleansing drive from the top tiers, which was highly acclaimed by the people.
The army-led joint forces arrested at least 112 high profile politicians and businessmen, including several former ministers and lawmakers of the major political parties.
These high profile politicians, who were so long in jail on charges of crime and corruption under the Emergency Power Act, are now slipping through legal loopholes. Only one bench of the HC granted bail to at least 76 graft suspects in a month, of whom 33 were listed by the ACC.
It was really a commendable move by the CTG for purging the polluted politics and bringing the top-most corrupt politicians, who were hitherto believed to be immune from the normal law of the land, to justice. The CTG won 105 cases filed against 154 people, mostly politicians and their family members, but failed to cross the next hurdle as the top graft convicts challenged the verdicts in the HC.
The 10 special courts set up in the National Parliament Complex for trial of graft cases received nearly 1,147 cases. Of these, the ACC filed 434 cases, out of which the legality of 350 cases was challenged by the accused in the HC. The HC issued stay order in 185 cases.
Intriguingly, 68% of the convicts in the graft cases filed by ACC are absconding. At least 89 high profile individuals out of 130, who have been convicted in 105 graft cases, have gone into hiding. The absconding are four former ministers and one former lawmaker of BNP, one former minister and eight former lawmakers of AL and a former minister of Jatiya Party.
The ACC chief may be partially right when he says "It's a matter of perception," while commenting on the string of bail orders. But two perceptions are involved here. Other than the ACC's own perception of getting its job done, the public perception is that the crusade against corruption is lost, as to them mass granting of bail is synonymous with acquittal.
The ACC chairman, however, said that the cases were not going to end due to bail and stay order, but it would take time to get them on track after disposal of writs and stay orders. One would agree with him, as bail and stay order are indispensable parts of law. But people feel quite shocked when they see the champions in corruption walking out of jail, and assume that the ACC does not have the proper net to catch these bigwigs.
The ACC, which had raised hope that it would cut corruption drastically from public life, is now afflicted in the wake of mass granting of bail and stay orders of the graft cases. The hope is still there, as its boss who traveled to every corner of the country to raise repulsion against corruption has not lost heart.
"There is no shift in the policy of the ACC. So the legal process against the graft suspects will continue as per rules," says its DG. But most people believe that trial of top graft suspects will meet the same fate as thousands of others writs pending for years in the HC.
Granting of bail to such a huge number of high profile graft suspects also carries a message for the nation that the country is going back to the same political and social condition conductive to corruption that had prevailed before 1/11.
Detention of political bigwigs under the Emergency Power Act is the easy part. But the crucial part is to clamp down on the crime lords and the godfathers of graft with foolproof cases for prosecution. We have seen in the past that many detained political leaders with alleged links with high profile crime and corruption could not be punished, as the charges against them were not specific.
The CTG is now planning formulation of a National Integrity Strategy (NIS), with a view to creating an ethical society to back up its drives for combating corruption. The CTG aims to achieve this goal by rebuilding integrity in every segment of the society.
The parliament, judiciary, executive, civil service, local government, attorney general, ACC, PSC, EC and CAG are the public sector institutions where the government is going to set a standard of integrity through the NIS. The NGOs, media, civil society and political parties are the private sector institutions where the NIS would be employed.
The fundamental problem that relates to corruption in Bangladesh is the dominance of the vested interests, irrespective of changes in the power matrix. The remedy was to start the cleaning drive from the top tier. But the ACC, despite making some desperate attempts for combating corruption, could not succeed for lack of legal support.
The long-felt need of a statuary body to address unabated corruption in the country could not be met. Corruption still continues to devastate the society and distort our national psyche. In such a situation, a utopian idea like NIS for combating corruption brings little hope for the nation. Moreover, the next elected government will decide the fate of the NIS as soon as it takes oath of office and settles down.

A.N.M. Nurul Haque is a columnist for The Daily Star.