More than 300 applications have been submitted to a search committee for appointments as chairman and commissioners of Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission, known as ACC. The applications are being scrutinized after the call for applications opened on July 2 and closed on July 13. The report says the commission has been effectively stalled for four months because new leaders have not been appointed.

Sources said several retired judges, former secretaries and lawyers met Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed and Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, while some others sought meetings with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. Applicants include retired justices, former secretaries, retired military and police officers, teachers, lawyers and other professionals. The committee is assessing professional experience, integrity, administrative ability, anti-corruption positions and public-service records.

A five-member search committee headed by Appellate Division Justice Rezaul Haque was formed on June 22. It will send six names to the president, who will appoint three commissioners and select one of them as chairman. Former secretary AKM Abdul Awal Mazumdar said applicants who meet government figures should be considered disqualified.