The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) listened to over one hundred complaints lodged by people against services of 42 government agencies during a mass hearing at Chattogram Medical College auditorium on Wednesday. Attending the event as chief guest, ACC Commissioner (Investigation) Mohammad Mozammel Haque Khan said that in 70 percent of cases, the accused have been punished and the rest of the cases will be disposed of soon. “Not only petty criminals but ACC has arrested some very influential people who are still in prison. ACC won’t spare anyone who are involved in corruption. ACC will ensure that no one can embezzle government resources,” Mozammel said. Mozammel added that ACC doesn’t rush while filing cases. “Rather, we take time to file the cases. We file a case only when enough investigation is done. That’s why the possibility of mistakes in ACC cases remains very low,” Mozammel added. Read: ACC chair addresses Reporters Against Corruption Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Chattogram Mohammad Mominur Rahman presided over the hearing.   Md Ashraf Uddin, Divisional Commissioner of Chattogram, AKM Sohel, Director General (DG) (Resistance) of ACC, Krishnapad Ray, Commissioner of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) and Md Mahmud Hasan, Commissioner of ACC’s Chattogram Divisional Office, among others, were present at the event. 

The High Court on Sunday fixed June 26 for pronouncing a verdict on whether Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman are fugitives and whether they will be able to hire lawyers. A bench comprising Judge Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Judge Kazi Md Ijarul Haque Akondo fixed the date after conducting a hearing for the third consecutive day. Tarique and his wife Zubaida had submitted three separate writ petitions to the HC some 15 years ago, challenging a case filed against them for acquiring wealth beyond their known sources of income and concealing wealth in their affidavits. The HC had issued a rule in this regard at that time. Tariq and Zubaida submitted another three writ petitions against the rule, asking for a hearing. The HC finally took cognizance of these petitions on May 29. On that day, the Anti-Corruption Commission’s (ACC) lawyer asked the court whether Tarique-Zubaida’s lawyer will be able to plead for time. Read: HC defers Tarique-Zubaida’s hearing in corruption case On June 5, the first hearing took place, discussing if Tarique and Zubaida can be declared as fugitives and if they will be able to appoint lawyers to stand for them. The same issues were discussed during the second hearing on June 12 and the third hearing today. Lawyers AJ Mohammad Ali, Joynul Abedin and Kaysar Kamal conducted the hearing. Lawyer Khurshid Alam stood for the ACC while Attorney General AM Amin Uddin stood for the state. During the hearing, lawyer Khurshid Alam said that Tarique Rahman has been convicted in three cases. Arrest warrant has also been issued against him. These conditions are enough to declare Tarique a fugitive. Besides, the Appellate Division on April 13 had said in a verdict that Tarique’s wife Zubaida is a fugitive. As both Tarique and Zubaida have been declared by the courts as fugitives, they can’t hire lawyers to stand for them, said Khurshid.  On the other hand, Tarique and Zubaida’s lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali said before the court that the corruption case against his clients is still in its infancy. The complaints haven’t been recognized by the court yet. As a result, the time hasn’t come for Tarique and Zubaida to surrender before the court. He added that Tarique wasn’t a fugitive when he had filed the writ petitions. Tarique has received bail in the corruption case, which has been upheld by the Appellate Division too. That’s why Tarique Rahman can’t be declared a fugitive. Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin said that the Appellate Division has already declared Zubaida a fugitive. That’s why she can’t hire a lawyer as per the court’s verdict.   The ACC had filed the corruption case against Tarique and Zubaida with Kafrul police station on September 26, 2007 for misappropriating Tk 4.8 crore. Both of them had filed separate writ petitions challenging the case.