Lack of progress on BASIC bank scam probe

The High Court (HC) has opined that the ACC is following a "pick and choose" policy in arresting people in corruption cases. We agree with the HC that the graft body has been dragging on its investigation in the BASIC bank scandal for the last few years and has failed to submit charge sheet in any of the 56 cases filed as far back as two and a half years ago. ACC investigators' claim that they are yet to find the embezzled money falls flat in the face of a Bangladesh Bank enquiry which found that Tk 4,500 crore had been siphoned out of the bank between the years 2009 and 2013.

This is not the first time the HC bench has reprimanded the ACC for its foot dragging on the case. On November 8 of last year, the bench had observed the weaknesses of the anti-graft body in investigating the BASIC bank corruption. We are baffled as to why the ACC appears to work with remarkable speed in some cases while soft pedalling on others. The Bangladesh Bank had made a special inspection of BASIC bank that found evidence of widespread graft and provided documents to the ACC for action, but years have passed without any progress on cases filed. We agree with the court that the ACC has been found lacking in transparency and competence in dealing with cases and that raises questions about connivance on the part of the commission's members. It is up to the ACC to clear its name and conduct neutral investigations into all the scams.