In the report also sent to different ministers, Bac observed that the bill on the proposed body slashed its reach -- compared to Bac's present activities -- instead of making it more powerful.

"Whether the commission would be able to play an effective role is the biggest question," the report says.

The bill on what the civil society calls a government-controlled independent anti-corruption commission is likely to be passed in the current parliament session. Sources said the government is planning a hasty approval of the bill that was sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Law on July 10.

The committee that did not hold any meeting over the last two months will sit for maiden talks today to approve the bill.

Transparency International, Bangladesh, an anti-corruption watchdog, has demanded some amendments and additions to the draft bill.

It says the commission cannot be independent, as it allows the persons, against whom there are allegations of corruption, to become members of the selection body of the anti-corruption commission.

The six-member selection body includes two ministers -- the law minister and the finance minister, both accused of graft.

Bac and the commission have a wide gap in power: Bac filed 2,632 graft cases in the last three years, but the commission will not be able to lodge 2,270 cases of the same nature, as its authority has been cut through removal of some laws from the bill.

In other words, the commission will not be able to lodge 86.25 per cent of the cases now filed by Bac. Nor will it be able to press charges against bureaucrats.

Bac operates under 16 fully-fledged laws and 47 sections of the Bangladesh Penal Code, but the commission will have only one fully-fledged law and use only 14 Penal Code sections. "That means the definition of corruption has been narrowed," says a Bac official.

The 33 Penal Code sections that have been kept out of the jurisdiction of the commission includes participating in a crime conspiracy (120/B), cheating (417), forging court documents (466) and property embezzlement and misappropriation (403).

Besides, the customs and banking sector, accused of widespread corruption, will not be placed under the jurisdiction of the commission, although Bac can now deal with them.

The Penal Code Section 109 that allows Bac to bring a corruption charge against an accomplice will not be put under the commission either.

Transparency International, Bangladesh believes the exclusion of the Section 109 from the reach of the commission will allow accomplices in corruption, including bureaucrats, to escape charges.

Bac requested the government to include the Passport (Offence) Act, 1952, the Bangladesh Passport Order, 1973, the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947 and the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2002 in the bill to make the body effective.

Bac also requested it to create a provision to place its officials and employees under the commission according to its recommendations.