High Court questions ACC commissioners' accountability to chairman

The High Court yesterday questioned the legality of a provision of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) law under which the ACC commissioners remain accountable to its chairman.

The court issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to explain in four weeks why the provision, which is inconsistent with the ACC's basic principles and law, should not be scrapped, Deputy Attorney General Motaher Hossain Sazu told The Daily Star.

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Secretaries to the president, cabinet, law ministry and ACC, its chairman and all commissioners have been made respondents.

The HC bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Ashraful Kamal came up with the rule after hearing a writ petition filed by Md Kamal Hossain, a Supreme Court lawyer, challenging the legality of Section 12 (2) of the ACC Act 2004.

As per the section, the ACC commissioners are accountable to its chairman although ACC is an independent institution, the petitioner said, adding that this would hamper ACC's independent functions. As per Section 15, the three-member commission will take any decision at its meeting, and as per Section 5, the president will appoint one of the three commissioners as its chairman, he said.