The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has been embroiled in a dilemma over the fate of the Awami League-loyal lawyers and public prosecutors appointed during the previous government.

As AL leaders and high-ups of the fallen government are now being sued on corruption charges, the national anti-graft agency will not be able to employ them to conduct the case proceedings against them due to a conflict of interest stemming from the ideological bias.

After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on 5 August in the face of a mass upsurge, many lawyers and prosecutors, including Mosharraf Hossain Kajol and Khurshid Alam Khan, who were loyal to the Awami League, have been absent from their duties.

Sources said the incumbent commission cannot continue with these lawyers to conduct court proceedings as their ideological bias can be a matter of conflict of interest.

They also said the ACC hired most of the prosecutors and panel lawyers from 2009 to 2012 considering their allegiance to the Awami League, removing the lawyers who conducted case proceedings against AL President Sheikh Hasina and other top leaders during the army-backed caretaker government.

On 29 August, BNP Senior Joint General Secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi demanded the arrest of Kajol and Khurshid, terming them collaborators of the ousted fascist regime.

He also said Hasina turned a state institution like ACC into a ‘League institution’ with Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) cadres like Kajol and Khurshid.

Kajol was the general secretary of Mirpur Thana BCL from 1975 to 1981. He also wanted to contest the 2024 general election on an AL ticket but was denied by the party high-ups.

Besides, former Dhaka University unit BCL President Barrister Mohammad Sazzad Hossain and his wife Barrister Fauzia Akther Popy were also enlisted as ACC counsels in the High Court Division and Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

Among public prosecutors, Ahmed Ali Salam, Mahmud Hossain Jahangir, Rezaul Karim Reza and Fatema Khanam Nila in Dhaka Metropolitan Court are known as popular followers of AL.

According to the ACC legal and prosecution unit, 12 lawyers are currently working as public prosecutors in 13 Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate courts and 26 panel lawyers in the HC Division and Appellate Division.

Many of the biassed lawyers, including Kajol and Khurshid, have been absent from their duties since the resignation of Sheikh Hasina on 5 August, it says. 

Some 4,160 cases are pending with the HC Division and Appellate Division and 3,375 with special judge courts, it says.

Talking to the Daily Sun, a top official of the ACC legal and prosecution unit, wishing anonymity, said the ACC is yet to decide on the fate of the prosecutors and lawyers hired during the fallen regime.

He said, “The ACC chairman and two commissioners are appointed by the fallen regime. They are concerned about their own future. So, the decision regarding the fate of the partisan lawyers has yet to be taken. However, they might be dropped. Some lawyers are not attending our cases.”

The officer said Khurshid has not been in contact for the last few months. “He also doesn’t attend his chamber.”

Asked about their future, ACC Spokesperson and Director General (Prevention) Md Akhtar Hossain said a decision has not been taken about their future.

He, however, said the hiring process of lawyers and prosecutors was transparent.

“The ACC hired lawyers and prosecutors based on temporary recruitment guidelines of 2017. According to the guidelines, ACC invites lawyers for enlistment and the notifications are published either in newspapers or on the bar association’s notice board. Anyone can apply for the posts. Then, the applicants are selected through viva voce,” Akhtar said.

Former ACC director general Moidul Islam said the incumbent lawyers and prosecutors were recruited before having the recruitment guidelines in place.

“The present lawyers and prosecutors were hired in a pick-and-choose method. The ACC’s top management was also happy with their performance during the past government. In the changed scenario, cases are being filed against those associated with the past government. If they don’t perform now due to their bias, the ACC can remove them without any legal barrier.”