ACC commissioners free of chairman's control

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a High Court verdict that scrapped the provision of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) law, which had put its commissioners under the control of its chairman.

The Appellate Division passed a "no-order" on a petition filed by ACC Chairman M Bodiuzzaman seeking a stay on the HC verdict.

A four-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, however, said the ACC chairman could file a leave-to-appeal petition with the SC against the HC judgment.

ACC chairman's lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan told the Daily Star that his client would file a leave-to-appeal petition.

He said the HC judgment would remain in force until the SC passed a further order.

Meanwhile, ACC Commissioner Mohammad Shahabuddin's lawyer Syed Mamun Mahbub, who opposed the ACC chairman's petition, said the commissioners would take every decision unanimously.

No commissioner will remain under control of the chairman following the SC order, he added.   

Following a writ petition, the HC on November 19 declared Section 12(2) of the Anti Corruption Commission Act, 2004 illegal, saying the section curtailed the independence of the ACC commissioners.