A petition has been filed with the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against former interim government adviser Asif Nazrul and his Personal Secretary (PS) Shamsuddin Masum over allegations of corruption and accumulation of illegal wealth.
The application was submitted to the ACC chairman and commissioners on Wednesday by Supreme Court lawyer M Sarwar Hossain.
The petition alleges that all bribe transactions were conducted through PS Shamsuddin Masum. It cites a report published in a national daily on 3 March, which highlighted irregularities in the transfer of sub-registrars at the Ministry of Law during Asif Nazrul’s tenure.
According to the submission, during the eight months of the interim government, bribes worth hundreds of crores of taka were exchanged merely for sub-registrar transfers in the Law Ministry.
The application claims that no formal transfer guidelines were followed under then-law adviser Asif Nazrul’s administration. Evidence reportedly shows that transfer orders were suspended when promised bribes were not paid. In some cases, officials were transferred three to four times within six to seven months.
Between October 2024 and April 2025, at least 282 of the 403 sub-registrars in the Department of Registration were reportedly transferred, with at least 200 securing postings in preferred offices through bribes. Each transfer allegedly costs between Tk50 lakh and Tk60 lakh.
The petition notes that such a large number of transfers within eight months is unprecedented.
The sub-registrar transfer policy mandates that officials of ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ grade offices be posted according to corresponding grades.
However, the petition asserts that these rules were disregarded during the eight-month period.
