Eleven high officials of the nowdefunct Bureau of Anti-Corruption (Bac) who are to be screened for absorption into the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had earned the Bac jobs through fraudulence and seven of them were punished for it.

They were appointed district anti-corruption officers (Daco) in 1984 and promoted to the rank of deputy director (DD) during 199395. They had led the Bac activities

for more than a decade until its abolishment last year.

None of the 11 DDs lost their job for the irregularities. The seven officials were found guilty of fraudulence in 1997 but they got minor punishment. The authorities did not even launch any enquiry into the allegations against the rest four.

The officials are sitting idle after the government declared them "reserved employees" amid a controversy over their absorption into the ACC formed in November last year.

On completion of screening the first and second class officials of the Bac, the ACC is now working on screening the 14 Bac DDs..

Sources said the ACC members are in a serious disagreement over the absorption of the DDs. One view is to appoint them in the ACC and the other is against their absorption since their recruitment in the Bac was not done lawfully.

A director general (DG), five directors and 14 DDs were working

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with the Bac when it was abolished on formation of the ACC. The DG and directors worked in the Bac on deputation while the DDs were the highest-ranking own officers of Bac. FLAWED RECRUITMENT OF EIGHT OFFICERS

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in 1997 initiated an investigation into the appointment procedure of the Bac officials. A three-member probe committee was formed headed by Khademul Islam, a joint secretary of establishment ministry.

The committee detected irregularities in the recruiting process of eight of them.

It found that six officials of dissolved government projects were appointed as Daco in gross violation of law that says no person who is employed under a project initiated for a temporary period for specified purposes can be absorbed into government services.

M Shahiduzzaman, Sirajul Haq, Abul Kashem Fakir and Abu Yusuf Mia had been working in a project under the Ministry for Youth and Sports, Shamsul Alam Khan as a research officer in a project under the land ministry and Akilur Rahman as a statistician in a project of Public Health and Nutrition Department in the early 80s.

The then government decided to absorb some people, who worked under different projects, on humanitarian ground although they were not entitled to get the jobs.

On completion of the projects, the surplus employees wing of the establishment ministry nominated the six officials for absorbing into the National Board of Revenue (NBR) as third class tax inspectors. They worked in the NBR during 1983-84.

Hiding the fact that they had worked with the NBR, the six officials applied for the Bac job. They were appointed district anticorruption officers in connivance with some corrupt officials of the establishment ministry who nominated them for job.

The Absorption Ordinance, 1985, says once a public servant is absorbed into a post entitled for "surplus" public servant on nomination by the Ministry of establishment, it shall be final and he shall not be entitled to be re-absorbed in any post.

The PMO-formed probe body said the six, who did not have necessary educational qualification for the Bac job, would not get a first class government job unless they had concealed their identity and job information.

The probe report observed that the six officers have committed "serious misconduct" as per the Government Employee (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1985 as they joined a government office while working in another government office.

It said the six were guilty under the Anti-Corruption Act and the Bangladesh Code of Criminal Procedure for the misconduct.

In the same enquiry gross irregularities were found in the absorption of two other Bac officers-- Mozammel Hossain and Kazi Abul Bashar.

Mozammel Hossain, who had been working in a voluntary child welfare organisation, got the Bac job in connivance with some officials of the establishment ministry. The ministry nominated him for the job although he did not have required educational qualifications.

Kazi Abul Bashar, who had been terminated from a government project, also managed the establishment ministry nomination with the help of the ministry officials and got the job of district anticorruption officer. But no action could be taken against him as he had retired before a gazette was published on April 6, 2000 based on the enquiry.

Khalilur Rahman, chief of surplus employee wing of the estab-

lishment ministry, was suspended after he was found guilty of helping the eight officials get the ministry nomination illegally by concealing their identities. The enquiry committee accused Khalilur of misconduct, abuse of power and corruption.

However, the suspension order of Khalilur was cancelled in 1998. The authorities awarded him minor punishment, ordering to stop his annual increment for one year.

Overlooking the illegality in their appointment procedure, the government stayed the promotion of the seven officers (excluding Kazi Abul Bashar who retired) for four years showing the reason that "they did not have required education qualification" for the job.

The government also asked them to obtain necessary educational qualification by four years. In the meantime, they were promoted to DDs.

The probe committee found some important necessary documents missing that could have helped trace all the people involved in illegal recruitment of the eight officers.

NO ENQUIRY INTO ILLEGAL ABSORPTION OF 4 DDS

Nur Ahmed and several other officers were absorbed into the Bac in 1984 from different projects of BIDS (Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies). They joined Bac as district anticorruption officers and four of them were promoted to DDs.

A probe body in 1997 investigated the appointment of Nur Ahmed and found his absorption into the Bac illegal. During his appointment Nur Ahmed was shown as "surplus employee" of the government but the probe committee said there was no scope for considering Nur Ahmed and others as "surplus employees".

Four Bac DDs, now under scrutiny for absorption into the ACC, were on the list along with Nur Ahmed, which was sent to the establishment ministry for its nomination. They got the Bac job but the authorities did not launch any probe into their recruitment process.