That a good scratch was caused to the reputation of the Commission through the appointment of Mahbubur Rahman is a truth which we all have known, and which the ACC and the rest of the government machinery have now acknowledged.

While Mahbubur Rahman's decision to quit will now give the ACC an opportunity to reclaim the moral space it had lost by appointing the elderly lawyer and politician as its chief prosecutor, it is nevertheless to be pointed out that appointments of such serious note and intent must be based on a thorough background check of the individuals being considered for the jobs in question. Obviously, Mahbubur Rahman's political antecedents were not looked into, or were looked over with less than seriousness, when his name came up for consideration. It was a failing that ought not to have happened.

The reputation of the Anti-Corruption Commission matters, and matters absolutely. Having observed the ineffectual nature of the old Bureau of Anti-Corruption, as also the workings of the ACC as it operated under the cantankerous team that Mashhud Chowdhury and his men replaced, it hardly needs to be said that greater attention to detail is called for by the present set of men who preside over it.

Its emphasis on probity and on a strict enforcement of the law, as also the moral principles, which ought to come into the workings of the state, is a point that cannot be lost sight of. One way of ensuring that is through making sure that those under suspicion, or weighed down by allegations of corruption and other forms of crime, do not manage to flee the country.

Unfortunately, though, there have been instances when quite a few major figures accused of crime (and they have since been tried in absentia and sentenced) have managed to make their way out of the country. How they came to do that, and who helped them in taking flight, are matters that the ACC must deal with in the public interest.

Those complicit in the criminality indulged in by such men, as also those who helped give them safe conduct out of the country, should also be brought under the net and made to face the law. In this instance, it becomes important for the ACC to inquire into the matter of how a former political secretary to the former prime minister as well as a former minister have disappeared, and no one appears to know where they happen to be at present.

Much a similar case happens to define the matter of a former minister of state for education who, despite repeated summons by the ACC, has chosen not to present himself before the body with a statement of his assets. Now that a notice relating to his acquisition of property has been attached to his home, it must be followed by a concerted search for the man.

No one will take issue with the thought that the Anti-Corruption Commission has a huge load on its hands, which is surely why it has gone into the job of appointing a panel of celebrity lawyers to defend the cases it brings against those it accuses of wrongdoing. Here, too, comes the question of the mechanism under which these lawyers, most of whom have their particular political affiliations or inclinations, will take up the ACC's cause.

One of the lawyers on the ACC panel has already sounded the caveat that should corruption cases be filed against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, he will opt to defend her. That is perfectly all right, and the lawyer here is absolutely within his rights to be beside an individual whose interests he feels ought to be defended by him and people like him.

But now comes the question of the moral dilemma that some, if not all, of these lawyers will face once the trials of the high profile politicians now in custody are set in motion. Such a query arises for a very particular reason: if any of these lawyers feels that the aim of a corruption charge is little more than harassment of a political figure, how will he be expected to carry himself? The response will be nothing short of complicated.

A fine line might threaten to demarcate corruption charges from what could seem to be political cases. Owing to such probable threats arising in the weeks and months ahead, it will be the job of the ACC to reassure the country that its stated goal remains a purposeful handling of corruption, and within that ambit of activity it will, even as it goes strongly after the corrupt men and women of this land, ensure that those it has targeted are provided with the legal opportunities of defending themselves through to the end.

In the days and weeks ahead, the Anti-Corruption Commission will be expected to go earnestly into investigating the case of a powerful former minister whose home has allegedly undergone a beautification programme per courtesy of the government exchequer.

The tale of trees, tubewells and the like, all of which were allegedly put in place through means patently foul, calls for swift action on the part of the ACC. The sooner such action is taken the better will it be for the country, for it will serve as one more shot in the arm for the anti-corruption watchdog.

There are other areas where the ACC needs to move in, seriously and fast. The scandal relating to the plunder of forests has now widened to bring under suspicion a former adviser and a serving senior bureaucrat. To what extent investigations are being carried out about their role in the whole sordid episode, and what action is being planned against them, is what the country would like to know.

Corruption, be it noted, has dug deep roots in the bureaucracy. In its most recent list of the corrupt, the ACC has named quite a few government officials. But that is merely a tip of the iceberg. There are hordes of others who have amassed huge fortune in the last many years. Definitive and decisive action is called for against these individuals who have betrayed the nation's trust.

There are, too, those members of the medical community whose professionalism has been undermined by their propensity to engage in corruption. The commercialisation of medical treatment through charging exorbitant fees from patients is just another instance of corruption that needs serious handling. Will the Anti-Corruption Commission be inclined, at some stage, to dealing with these men who have undermined their reputation through their questionable behaviour?

These are critical times, sensitive times, that we are wading through. And yet, where corruption is the demon to be tackled, no moment could be better, no phase in our social history could be more appealing, more opportune than the difficult era we happen to be passing through.

Handling corrupt politicians, penalising unethical businessmen, taking to task dishonest academics, journalists, bureaucrats, policemen, et al -- all of these stand a good chance of being undertaken and seen through to the end in these times. At the end of it all, it is an Anti-Corruption Commission that stays assertive and independent, is able to enforce its decisions and will, in future, be in a position to keep every government on its toes and every individual conscious of the law, that we look forward to, in that very broad and purposeful sense of the meaning.

Syed Badrul Ahsan is Editor, Current Affairs, The Daily Star.