The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) made unprecedented moves in the last year, as it shattered two decades of previous benchmarks in launching inquiries, filing cases, and submitting charge sheets, a forthcoming annual report reveals.
The commission is set to soon release its 2024 annual report, and according to the draft report data, ACC decided to initiate inquiries into 1,894 complaints from a total of 15,842 lodged complaints — a staggering 11.95% acceptance rate, more than double the figure from 2023.
More tellingly, nearly 24% of the cases selected for inquiry eventually resulted in lawsuits. This marks a stunning break from past inertia and a move towards a visibly more aggressive anti-graft posture.
The report shows that ACC filed 451 cases in 2024 and submitted 403 charge sheets after investigation, sharply outpacing recent years: between 2019 and 2023, annual case filings were 363, 348, 347, 406, and 404 respectively.
Likewise, charge sheet approvals over the same period were 267, 228, 260, 224, and 363 respectively. In simple terms, 2024 saw 47 more cases filed and 40 more charge sheets submitted compared to 2023 — a non-trivial leap when measured against historical averages.
Digging deeper, a six-year breakdown reveals some critical patterns. Unsurprisingly, complaints dipped the lowest in 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, with only 14,789 lodged, compared to the peak in 2019 when 21,371 complaints poured in. Interestingly, 2019 also saw the highest inquiry acceptance rate at 8%, while 2021 slumped to a mere 3.6%.
However, if 2024 was the year of heightened action, it was paradoxically also the year of diminishing conviction rates.
Despite the surge in cases, the conviction rate fell to 48.17%, a marked decline from 67.13% in 2023, 64.17% in 2022, 60% in 2021, and 72% in 2020. The numbers here are unsettling: while it is relatively easy to file cases, securing convictions remains a stubborn, systemic challenge — a fact ACC appears unable, or unwilling, to address publicly.
Asset recovery figures also paint an intriguing picture. In 2024, the commission froze assets worth Tk170.55 crore across 69 different records, comprising 281 acres of land, 84 houses, 80 flats, 16 plots, one resort, one agricultural farm, one commercial establishment, and one commercial space.
Additionally, it blocked Tk190.90 crore worth of assets through 38 separate documents — a bold flex of regulatory muscle that, at least on paper, suggests serious intent.
Court statistics present a sobering counterpoint. By the end of 2024, the special metropolitan judge courts had 3,410 ongoing cases, with 2,988 cases under active trial. Of these, 400 cases were stayed, 295 cases disposed of, resulting in convictions in 138 instances while acquittals were granted in 116 cases; the remaining 41 cases saw other forms of disposal.
Further complicating matters, stays on proceedings have emerged as a serious bottleneck: 400 cases are stayed at trial courts, 415 at the High Court, and 150 at the Appellate Division. The logjam in the judiciary increasingly undermines whatever progress the ACC claims to have made on paper.
But the elephant in the room remains political change. Senior ACC officials, speaking to Dhaka Tribune on condition of anonymity, candidly admitted that the end of the Awami League’s 15-year-long hold on power had been a "game-changer." During the AL’s reign, they confessed, there was little effective action against figures connected to the ruling party or its allies. Since their ouster, the officials argue, many of these invisible "red lines" have disappeared.
The timeline makes the shift starkly visible: following the mass uprising of August 5, the ACC was inundated with complaints against former AL ministers, MPs, party leaders, and bureaucrats aligned with the regime. A veritable avalanche of allegations — previously shelved or quietly buried — suddenly became actionable, prompting a flurry of investigations and lawsuits.
Significantly, cases lodged before August 5 were largely abandoned, with the ACC declining to move forward with about 90% of those earlier complaints — a jarring reminder of just how politically contingent anti-corruption drives remain in Bangladesh.
Yet, even amidst this frenzy, conspicuous silences linger. ACC has offered no press briefings or substantive updates about the progress on these high-profile cases.
According to commission record files, more than 3,000 complaints are still pending inquiry or investigation. Meanwhile, cases under trial continue to pile up at a rate faster than the system can digest.
In recent months, the ACC has launched cases against several former AL ministers, MPs, and senior bureaucrats on charges ranging from illicit wealth accumulation to suspicious transactions, asset concealment, and money laundering. Some prominent arrests have been made, signaling that the net is tightening — or at least, that the performance is being staged convincingly enough.
The political dimension of these moves remains a sensitive issue. In off-the-record comments, two ACC commissioners admitted that allegations of "political vendetta" were inevitable whenever action was taken against prominent political figures.
However, they insisted that the current commission was operating independently, pursuing investigations strictly based on evidence without political bias — a claim easier made than proven, given Bangladesh’s troubled history with weaponized anti-corruption campaigns.
An important caveat also arises: despite the wave of new cases, certain political figures have seen their cases suspended or dropped altogether after August 5. A prominent example is the March 25 ruling by Dhaka’s Special Judge Court-5 where Judge Md Kabir Uddin Pramanik acquitted BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s younger brother Shamim Iskander and his wife Kaniz Fatema.
According to the ACC’s file records, they had been accused in 2008 for concealing asset information, following a 2007 notice demanding asset declarations. The timing and optics of such decisions have inevitably fueled further skepticism about whether the commission’s newfound vigor is universally applied — or selectively.
When contacted for comment, ACC’s Director General (Prevention) Md Akhtar Hossain declined to provide an official statement to Dhaka Tribune before the formal release of the annual report.
However, former ACC Director Generals were far less reticent. Praising the sharp rise in inquiry acceptance rates, several noted that it marks a significant psychological shift within the institution.
As ex-ACC DG Moyedul Islam put it: "After the August 5 political shift, the ACC's mindset has transformed, but sustaining this momentum is crucial for its independence."
