Injustice…
A plaintiff, defendant or a witness irrespective of all urgencies of life, physical well-being, weather and traffic jams makes his/her way to the courts on the dates fixed for hearing. Particularly the defendant remains tense and wary of the reporting and does his/her best to appear on the due date and time, lest warrant of arrest is issued against him/her. But his/her physical presence is not enough. It has to be recorded by a court clerk and without paying bribe to him and the lawyer the attendance will not be in order. The amount ranges between Tk 200/ to Tk 500/.
Why should one be made to pay graft after complying with the court order that too just to confirm one's presence? Strange and illogical it sounds. In which world do we live in? Can't this exploitation at the door of the court of justice be stopped? The court clerk should note down in his registrar or a simple form should be there for anyone attending court to be able to fill up and hand over to the court clerk, may be after attestation by a lawyer. We have corruption at each and every step inside our courts which no one expects to be curbed by any government, but let the government at least exempt the people from this one step of harassment by changing the procedure of reporting attendance.
Then judicial /non-judicial stamps cannot be purchased at original price and one has to pay extra money to the vendors. But why so? This was not the practice during the old days of Pakistan. This is a challenge to the authority of the government in power by these vendors. Can't the administration check this exploitation? How can one change the value printed by the government to make personal gains? Vendors do get commission. How long will such malpractices go on? The government has to assert its authority at the grassroots level, so that one cares for the law.
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