The operations of the Anti-Corruption Commission have nearly come to a halt as the country’s anti-graft agency has been running without its chairman and commissioners for over one and a half months following their resignation.

The government is yet to begin the process of forming a selection committee to appoint a new ACC, raising concerns about prolonged stagnation in anti-corruption efforts.

The commission has remained practically inactive since March 3, when its chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen and commissioners Mia Mohammad Ali Akbar Azizi and Hafiz Ahsan Farid stepped down, two weeks after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government assumed office following the February 12 general election.

Officials said that the absence of the commission has left key anti-corruption functions in limbo, as decisions on launching new inquiries, filing cases, approving charge sheets and freezing assets of suspects require approval from the full commission.

As a result, ACC officials and employees are largely confined to routine work, while major policy and operational decisions remain stalled.

ACC secretary Mohammad Khaled Rahim told New Age on Friday that they were conducting routing works, including ongoing investigations and inquiries, as per laws in the absence of a full commission.

‘The ongoing investigations and routine activities are being carried out with our best efforts, but key decisions remain stalled due to the absence of the top officials,’ he said, adding that only higher authorities could say when a new commission would be appointed.

Senior officials said that neither the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004 nor the Anti-Corruption Commission Rules 2007 provide any guidance on how the organisation should function without a commission, effectively leaving it without legal authority to take crucial decisions.

Officials said that the agency was facing multiple operational challenges due to the leadership vacuum, including delays in processing complaints, stalled investigations and inability to take any key decision.

Experts warned that the situation had exposed  longstanding structural weaknesses in the commission and raised questions about its functional independence.

Although the ACC was established as an independent institution, critics argue, its leadership has often been influenced by political considerations, resulting in frequent disruptions.

Since its establishment in 2004, seven commissions have been formed, but four failed to complete their full terms, often following political transitions.

Analysts said that such repeated changes had undermined continuity in anti-corruption drives and thus eroded public confidence.

Transparency International Bangladesh executive director Iftekharuzzaman said that the current situation reflected a broader pattern of political control over key institutions.

‘This is disappointing but not surprising, as it reflects the government’s clear agenda of ensuring that key institutions of accountability are led and controlled by individuals of their partisan choice,’ he told New Age.

He said, ‘What has happened to the Bangladesh Bank, NHRC, judicial reform, local government bodies, public universities, civil service and law enforcement agencies, with the ACC reflecting the syndrome of it’s “our turn”, in an instance that  winner takes all,’ he said.

‘There is no indication if the government is disturbed that a frozen ACC with no visible attempt to appoint new leadership is fully contradictory to BNP’s election manifesto, 31-point state reform agenda and the July Charter. Nor does the government appear to be bothered about how to convince the people at large that what they have done with the ACC is not against public expectations,’ said Iftekharuzzaman.

ACC officials also noted that Section 10 of the ACC Act requires a 30-day notice before resignation or removal of commissioners — a provision frequently ignored in the past. Four of the seven commissions did not complete their tenure in compliance with this rule.

Discussions are going on regarding the appointment process of a new chairman and commissioners under the Anti-Corruption Commission (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, which introduced significant changes to the structure of the commission.

The law amended during the interim government increased the number of commissioners from three to five, reduced their tenure to four years, and mandates the inclusion of at least one woman and one ICT expert.

It also restructured the selection process through a seven-member committee headed by a senior judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.

Other members would include a High Court judge, the comptroller and auditor general, chairman of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission, two lawmakers from both the treasury and opposition benches, and a citizen experienced in governance or anti-corruption.

The committee is tasked with inviting applications, scrutinising candidates, conducting interviews and recommending two names for each post to the president for appointing the ACC chairman and commissioners.

However, officials of the Cabinet Division said that the selection committee was yet to be formed even after one and half months, as the Cabinet Division was still waiting for ‘green signal’ from the government and formal approval of the amended ordinance before initiating the process.

Officials said that preliminary discussions had begun and the committee could be formed quickly once approval to the amended ordinance was given.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, issued by the immediate-past interim government on December 23, 2025, was placed in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad’s first session but had not been tabled as a bill within April 10 or the 30 days of the formation of the House.

A parliamentary special committee on April 2 placed its report before the House, recommending 16 ordinances, including the ACC (Amendment) Ordinance 2025, be subjected to further scrutiny and strengthening before being reintroduced at a later stage in a comprehensive form.

Three opposition members in the special committee, however, submitted notes of dissent regarding the decision.

The opposition members in the committee proposed an unchanged adoption of the ordinance, noting that it strengthened the selection committee for appointing top ACC officials and would make the commission accountable to the people and the Jatiya Sangsad, free from executive influence.

Expressing disappointment, former ACC director general Moyeedul Islam said, ‘We see a stalemate at the ACC for the past more than one month due to the absence of the chairman and commissioners which, has created a favourable situation for corrupt people.’

‘With the backlog of cases, complaints will increase manifold due to the delay in appointment of new commission which will ultimately hamper the anti-graft activities,’ he said.

Question will be raised about the goodwill and the electoral commitment of the new government if the anti-graft activities are hampered, he said.

The previous commission had started inquiry into some high profile corrupt people and groups, which now also stays stalled – a highly undesirable situation, he added.

The quick formation of a credible and independent commission, he also stressed, is essential to restore momentum in anti-graft activities and rebuild public trust in the commission.