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ACC to take in all Bac staff

Step contradicts ACC Act, govt order

Julfikar Ali Manik
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has once again taken a controversial decision to temporarily take in all regular staff of the now-defunct Bureau of AntiCorruption (Bac) violating the ACC Act and ignoring a government order.
The government had earlier clearly said that the Bac staff should not be absorbed into the ACC without screening. It even ordered them not to work with the commission.
"We've decided to utilise all former Bac staff, now unemployed, by attaching them temporarily to the commission to make it an effective institution," ACC Chairman Justice
Sultan Hossain Khan told newsmen afteran internal meeting yesterday.
The former Bac staff will start working from Saturday (tomorrow), said the chairman.
The commission will also ask the government to withdraw all the officials who were on deputation at the Bac. These officials along with
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the regular staff were declared 'reserved staff' by the government last month.
So there is no question of attaching the officials-on-deputation to the commission as per yesterday's decision, sources close to the meeting said, adding that around 80 of the 1,107 Bac staff had worked there on deputation.
Earlier, a controversy gripped the anticorruption watchdog when its chairman announced that all Bac staff would automatically be absorbed into the commission. He also formed two committees to screen the Bac staff.
When it was reported that his decision went against the ACC Act, Justice Sultan wrote a letter to the attorney general on December 14 last year to know the status of the staff of Bac, which was dissolved on formation of the ACC on November 21.
Interpreting the law, Attorney General AF Hassan Ariff in a letter on December 15 said the service of the Bac officers and employees has been vested with the commission from the day Bac was dissolved. "They will continue in service until withdrawn by the government on the request of the commission under section 35 (2)," he said.
After the commission informed the Cabinet Division about the attorney general's views, the cabinet secretary said on December 18 that the Bac staff have not been placed under the ACC. "Therefore, these employees should be treated as government's reserved staff," said Dr Saadat Hussain, the cabinet secretary.
As the commission continued working with the Bac staff, the government on January 3 ordered them not to work for the commission.
On January 8, the law ministry said the attorney general's legal interpretation on the status of Bac staff was not correct.
The cabinet division sent a letter to the ACC chairman and two commissioners on January 29, saying some of the Bac officials had been holding 'non-existing' positions and issuing letters on behalf of the ACC.
"This is illegal and contrary to service discipline," the letter said, adding that if necessary the government will take legal steps against them.
Asked to comment on the views of the cabinet division and law ministry on the status of Bac staff, Justice Sultan told reporters: "Ask them, they'll best explain it."
Talking to reporters after yesterday's meeting, Commissioner Prof Maniruzzaman Miah said: "The ACC is failing to work for manpower shortage. But all whom we'll attach must have to undergo screening as per rule."
About the Bac officials who worked on deputation, Prof Miah said, "They were working at the bureau as it needed them. We'll ask the government to withdraw them and, if we need, ask the government to send fresh people to the commission."
The commission yesterday decided to appoint former additional secretary of law ministry Abul Bashar Bhuiyan as legal consultant for the commission.
The commission will appoint a secretary in 15 days.
The commission also formed a five-member advisory committee headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General M Hafizuddin Khan for screening of Bac staff.