The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has delisted more than 8,000 investigations and cases filed and listed during now defunct Bangladesh Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BBA).
In a five-year scrutiny by the ACC since 2010, the anti-corruption watchdog did not find enough reasons to continue those cases and investigations due to insufficient evidences, demise of plaintiffs and accused, unavailability of witnesses, loss of documents etc.
"The ACC inherited documents of more than 10,000 cases and investigations from the now- defunct BBA. During this five-year scrutiny, we could not find enough support to continue those entries," chairman of the ACC M Badiuzzaman told The FE.
According to Section 38 of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004, any case, investigation, inquiry or pending approval shall be completed by the Commission in accordance with this Act.
The ACC also filed around 300 cases after a thorough scrutiny of those pending 10,000 investigations and cases.
According to the concerned department, the ACC will take one month and a half more to resolve all those pending cases.
The ACC chairman said the Commission tried its best to continue those cases and investigations. But it could not do anything as it was already too late.
"Had the initiative been taken earlier, more cases and investigations would have been found worth continuing," he added.
He shifted some responsibilities to his predecessors-- Justice Sultan Hossain Khan and Lt General (retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury.
"After enactment of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004, no initiative was taken until 2009 to resolve those pending cases and investigations," Mr M Badiuzzaman said.
ACC Director General Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal, who is now leading the scrutiny process, said after abolition of the BBA, the then ACC authority got all the pending documents from the BBA.
"Some documents were lost and destroyed too during those years," he said.
In 2009, during Chairman Golam Rahman's tenure, the ACC took initiative for the first time to resolve the pending cases.
Contacted, Mr Golam Rahman said it was an immense burden for the ACC. "Whatever the present ACC did, I'm happy, it is going to be free from this burden soon."
He also said insufficient manpower was another reason of the previous authority's failure to start the process of resolving the pending cases and investigations.
Former Adviser to the Caretaker Government M Hafizuddin Khan said the ACC should have prioritised high-profile cases and investigations for resolution.
As per the present capacity of the ACC, it is almost impossible to continue this huge number of cases in addition to current cases and investigations.
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