Asif Mahmud files writ with HC against ACC 

Former interim government adviser and National Citizen Party (NCP) spokesperson Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan on Monday filed a writ petition with the High Court (HC) challenging the legality of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) publicly stating that it had found "initial truth" in corruption and irregularity allegations at the beginning of an investigation.

Advocate Zahirul Islam Musa filed the petition at the relevant section of the High Court on behalf of Asif seeking its directive over the matter.

The petition sought HC directives preventing the ACC from making defamatory statements through press briefings about matters under investigation and broadcasting them through the media.
The petition also sought HC directive to declare the press briefings made by the ACC on September 2 and 13 respectively illegal and beyond its legal authority.

It also sought HC directive preventing the ACC from holding press briefings on matters under investigation or pending before the courts, as well as an order requiring the commission to issue a formal withdrawal notice with the same prominence for statements it has already made public.

ACC chairman, its deputy director (public relations officer) and assistant director (public relations officer) have been made as respondents in the petitions.

According to the petition, an ACC deputy director said at a briefing at the commission's headquarters on September 2 that the ACC had decided to investigate allegations of a "transfer, appointment and promotion trade" involving former adviser Asif Mahmud and others after finding "initial truth" in the allegations.

The petition argues that under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, a finding of "initial truth" could only emerge from the outcome of an inquiry and that the commission has no legal authority to make such a statement at the beginning of an investigation.

It further says that on September 9, the ACC secretary described the statement as a "slip of the tongue" in response to questions from journalists, while the official concerned also acknowledged in a WhatsApp group of journalists that it had been an inadvertent error.

However, no formal and clear withdrawal of the statement was publicly issued, according to the petition.

Asif subsequently sent a legal notice to the ACC on September 10, but the commission did not act on it and held another press briefing on September 13, the petition said. Hence, Asif filed the petition.

In the petition, he claimed that the allegations brought against him were completely baseless and untrue.