Corruption: The lawyers way

He is asking bribes for judge

Often your lawyer would tell you that the judge is corrupt and would not decide your case in your favour until you pay him bribe. Then the lawyer would tell you that he has a connection with the judge. You will be required to pay the bribe to the lawyer or some friend of the lawyer. You will not have a one-to-one meeting with the judge. You will be given just the assurance. Often a money back guarantee is given. Since your lawyer can foresee the outcome of your case, he will keep the money in his account. If he looses the case, you get the money and if you win the case, he gets the money and the judge earns the bad name.

A person was offered such a deal. He met the judge on his own and discussed the case. The judge obtained Rs 3 million bribe from him on a Rawalpindi petrol pump and took out a small pocket sized Islamic book and took oath on the holy scripture that he would decide the case in their favour. The judge observed the oath.

He is asking gifts for the judge

The lawyer would tell his client that he is going to meet the judge in the evening or on the weekend and that he intends to take some gifts to his house. The lawyer also promises the client that the former would also discuss latter’s case there. The client is then taken to various shops. All those gifts ultimately ended up in lawyer’s house. A lawyer in Jhelum demanded a VCR for the judge. The client, who had recently returned from Saudia Arabia, provided the VCR within a suit case. The lawyer told the client that the judge not only liked the VCR but also took the suit case. Years later, the client visited the lawyer’s house and found that the VCR which was taken in the name of the judge was lying in lawyer’s TV trolley.

He is asking thousands of rupees for photocopies that are worth a few hundred.

I was conducting a case in anti-corruption court. My opponent lawyer told his client that he needs to present Indian case laws in the court as judge really likes to read Indian case laws. The lawyer asked his client to give his clerk Rs 30,000/- as the books have to be ordered from India and they would come via PIA flight. The ignorant client paid the fee. After the client was gone, the lawyer sent his clerk to the library with instructions to get the law photocopied.

He is asking for exuberant court fees again and again

Whenever a civil case is moved in the court. The law requires a certain amount of court fees. It depends on the value of the case property. The court fee never exceeds Rs 15000/- and it is always deposited in the government’s exchequer. There has been instances where lawyers charged Rs 70 or 80 thousands from ignorant female clients when the court fee was just Rs 15/-.

He has to buy books to prepare your case.

Some lawyers would tell their client that they need certain books to prepare your case. The bill demanded would usually be in thousands.

Who to blame for all bad things in your life.

Okay! I'm corrupt, but not that corrupt.

I have recently met a friend, Ibrahim, after a gap of around two years. When we last met, he was completing his telecommunication bachelors degree. He got a job in a telecom sub-company which erects towers for various mobile companies. To my question about how is work going, he said it's bit slow these days as there are no more orders for tower erection. He then blamed President Asif Ali Zardari for lack of orders and also told me that Nokia was about to make a factory in Gawadar, but opted for India as President Zardari had asked the telecom giant to give him a commission of 21 percent.
This is one of the countless corruption stories being circulated by everyone who is having a hard times.

PS: The vegetable vendor near my house also blames President Zardari for the potato price hike and the printing of a cancer patient's picture over cigarette packs.

PML-N's real face

The Economist wrote,"Through the chopper’s open door, Shahbaz Sharif, pitches a sack of food, then looks down and heaves out another. Mr Sharif has spent almost every day since the floods hit marshalling dykes and dispensing relief. His rivals accuse him of taking political advantage from the deluge. But the country would be in less calamitous shape if more officials worked as hard as he."

This is a recent post of a journalist friend on facebook. The Economist quote was intended for a huge international readership. This quote not only portrays Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif as bracing a calamity, it also shortens all other politicians’ stature in the country.
The Pakistani media has gone to limits to criticise the PPP-led government. I wanted to write about the state of affairs in Punjab. The media’s inability to see the provincial affairs is surprising. The whole province is being run by police. PPP Federal Minister Babar Awan’s allegations that Punjab is being run as a police state carry weight. We all know who encouraged the police encounter culture in Punjab.
During the early days of the PML-N government in Punjab, most of my crime reporter friends used to forecast police encounters. A crime reporter would inform us well before time to align the satellite truck of the news station I was working in, as a police encounter was about to happen.
Every official from the rank of district police officer to station house officer is being appointed on the recommendation of the local PML-N parliamentarians.
These police officials, including the DPOs, can’t dare to say no to their local masters. The MNAs use the district police as a tool to smoother opposition members. I daily come across at least six or seven police FIRs that are chalked against the PPP workers in my district. The charges leveled against them range from incest to severe torture and they are totally baseless.
The MNAs involvement does not end here. The parliamentarians also force police to change the course of investigation, at a price – either money in the shape of bribe for police but received by the MNA or MPA or pledge for more vote and support in the next election.
The situation has worsened to the extent that people first go to the local handyman of the MNA before going to the police station for the registration of the FIR. Insiders in the PML-N have disclosed that during the party meetings between the chief minister and parliamentarians, the oft discussed topic is transfer and posting of favourite police and revenue officials.
The Revenue Department is also being run by the parliamentarians. Being a lawyer, I spend more time in courts than anywhere else. Revenue offices are also located nearby. I daily see vehicle of MNA or MPA parked outside these offices. The common practice among litigants is that they approach the revenue department after getting the MNA or MPA approach the department first.
And now something in honour of my local media friends. All major channels of the country have their correspondents/ reporters in Jhelum. These reporters are not paid anything. How do they earn their living? They act as pimps for minor officials in police and other department. The poor chaps have no option except to give their service at a price.