Ex-PG says ACC shouldn't advise govt on individual land case

Former Prosecutor General Hussain Shameem has criticised the government’s handling of a proposed sale of land in Hulhumalé Phase II to a private individual, saying the process lacks transparency and questioning the decision to seek advice from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

The issue concerns a plot that had initially been allocated under the Binveriyaa housing scheme before being withdrawn after authorities determined that the recipient did not meet the eligibility criteria because the person was not born in Malé.

The land subsequently remained unallocated.

A Housing Department memorandum sent to the Finance Department proposing the sale of the plot to Ahmed Zahir later circulated on social media. The Housing Ministry has confirmed that the memorandum is authentic.

Writing on his blog, Shameem criticised several aspects of the ministry’s explanation of the case.

He said the government had not explained what process was available to other people in similar circumstances, how Ahmed Zahir had applied for the land, or under what criteria his circumstances were assessed.

“If there are others in the same situation, it is not clear how they are supposed to apply to the government, to what extent they can make such a request, or what procedure should be followed,” Shameem wrote.

He said the absence of publicly stated criteria, or information on where such criteria could be accessed, made it difficult to determine whether the proposed decision was fair.

“If there is no transparency, it will be difficult to assess the fairness of this decision,” he said.

According to the Housing Ministry, a decision to sell a plot to Ahmed Zahir dates back to 2003, during the administration of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, under a scheme through which land in Hulhumalé was being sold.

Shameem said he accepted that a plot should be provided if there was a valid government document establishing such an entitlement.

However, he said resolving the matter through a process that was not sufficiently transparent could also be unfair to Zahir.

“If the government sells state land to Ahmed Zahir under its present decision, he pays for it, and the decision is later found not to be legally valid, forcing him to pursue the matter again, that would only impose further hardship on him,” Shameem wrote.

He said the government should resolve the matter properly and fairly.

Shameem also raised several questions over why the earlier decision had remained unimplemented for about 23 years.

He asked why the government had failed to execute the decision despite an official document, how many similar decisions remained outstanding, whether any officials had been responsible for the delay and why Zahir had not sought enforcement through the courts if he held a legally enforceable document.

Shameem further said the legal status of the land itself required attention.

While land in Hulhumalé is generally held by the Housing Development Corporation, he said the plot involved in this case had been acquired by the government from HDC and should therefore be treated as state land.

He argued that the sale of state land was not something recognised under the Maldives’ legal framework in the same manner as privately held land.

Shameem also criticised the Housing Ministry’s decision to refer the matter to the ACC and seek the commission’s advice after an investigation.

He said this was the aspect of the ministry’s statement that concerned him most.

Shameem referred to Article 22 of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, which allows the ACC to conduct studies on preventing corruption and advise state institutions on measures and directives needed to address corruption risks.

He argued that the provision did not give the commission a role in providing legal advice on individual cases.

“If this provision is interpreted as allowing the ACC to advise the government on specific cases, a more serious problem arises,” he wrote. “The ACC would then become part of the government administration and lose its character as an independent watchdog over state institutions.”

Shameem said the ACC’s role was to investigate alleged wrongdoing and refer cases for prosecution where appropriate, rather than decide how the government should proceed in a particular administrative matter before an investigation had concluded.

“The Attorney General provides legal advice to the government, not the ACC,” Shameem said.

He added that the ACC did not have the legal status or mandate to provide legal advice either to the government or other parties.

The government has since decided that unresolved long-standing housing cases will be referred to the Civil Rights Office established under the Attorney General’s Office, rather than being decided directly by the Housing Ministry.