The High Court expressed frustration over the role of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in dealing with the BASIC Bank loan scam.
The High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim questioned the use of the independent commission if it bows down to influential people.
The bench said they feel that they should cover their faces with black clothes after seeing the role of the commission in dealing with the scam.
It made the observation while hearing the bail petitions of two accused in cases filed over the loan scam.
Eight officers investigating the 56 graft cases filed over the loan scam appeared before the court in compliance with an earlier order.
After the hearing, the court fixed Thursday to pass orders on six bail petitions filed by the bank's former deputy managing director Fazlus Sobhan and a former branch manager Shifar Ahmed.
During the hearing on Wednesday, the court asked ACC lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajal why charges were not being pressed against the bank’s governing body even after two and half years after the cases were filed.
Also Read: ACC quizzing ex-BASIC Bank chairman Bachchu
Earlier in the day, the commission interrogated former BASIC Bank chairman Sheikh Abdul Hye Bacchu for the fifth time in connection with the embezzlement of funds from the state-run bank.
According to the inquiry by Bangladesh Bank, Bachchu is accused of embezzling about Tk4,500 crore from BASIC Bank over the six years he served as chair.
In September 2015, the ACC filed 54 cases with three police stations in Dhaka accusing 156 individuals including 26 bank officials, of corruption.
On July 5, 2014, Bachchu tendered his resignation to Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Bangladesh Bank’s advice, after the investigation found irregularities in approving around Tk4,500 crore in loans from four branches of Basic Bank between December 2009 and November 2012.
