Zero tolerance, but plenty of clearance?
It is frustrating that the government's zero-tolerance policy against corruption continues to be a slogan without substance even as it plagues the whole nation. The recent disclosures of alleged corruption involving two top officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), following high-profile cases involving a former IGP and an army chief, have once again underscored how widespread corruption has become. The government says there are stringent anti-corruption measures in place, and that actions are taken whenever an incident is reported. The truth couldn't be more different, however. While we have laws criminalising bribery, money laundering, or use of public resources for private gain, in reality, those are seldom used. If anything, anti-graft laws and regulations targeting government employees have been rather relaxed, lightening penalties for corruption.
A report by The Daily Star tracks some of the changes made in relevant laws over the years. For example, in 2018, an amendment to the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules (1985) introduced "reprimand" as a penalty for proven corruption. Other penalties include forced retirement, removal from the job, suspension, and demotion. But when public officials abuse their authority to commit crimes including corruption, they lose their moral right to be in service. In any other sector other than public, the punishment for that would be termination. So, a reprimand, or salary reduction, or "closing", or even demotion—so often the penalties of choice in public administration—does feel like a slap on the wrist given the gravity of some of the crimes.
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In April, for instance, Promatha Ranjan Ghatak, then a senior assistant secretary, was found guilty of embezzling Tk 7.35 crore while serving as a land acquisition officer in Madaripur, but he was only demoted rather than dismissed. Mainul Hasan, a former land surveyor at the same district, who was sent into forced retirement in November last year for his involvement in a compensation scam, was reinstated earlier this month. His original punishment, mysteriously, was reduced to a temporary lower salary grade. Another government employee, Bir Amir Hamza, an assistant commissioner (land) of Bogura Sadar Upazila, was also sentenced to a temporary reduced salary after being found guilty of forgery. These are just some of the more recent examples highlighted by the media.
The leniency shown in their cases has, understandably, raised a lot of eyebrows. We cannot but agree with experts that the government has provided impunity to public servants by enacting the Government Services Act, 2018, which replaced the Public Servants (Dismissal on Conviction) Ordinance, 1985. That ordinance contained harsher provisions including dismissal for any employee punished for criminal offences. As per the 2018 act, however, an official can be in service even after being sentenced to up to 12 months in prison. The act also requires the ACC to seek permission before arresting any official.
All such lenient, protective and even discriminatory provisions send a dangerous message: that corruption by public officials, even when proven, will be met with minimal consequences. We all know how other key players including politicians and politically connected businessmen are being similarly protected from legal consequences. Against this backdrop, when ruling party MPs decry corruption, as some of them did in parliament recently, but stop short of using their mandate to toughen up related laws, it comes across as hollow and insincere. To really check it, the government must not only get rid of all questionable provisions but also ensure strict compliance with existing rules and regulations on a regular basis.
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