Anand Yagnik: Even justice comes at a price

During the initial days of practice, I was conducting a bail matter in one of the mofussil courts.After the arguments, the learned judge kept the matter for the next week for the pronouncement of order. My client was in judicial custody. The order did not come the next week and even thereafter.

Realising that justice can only be delivered when the expectation of the learned judge is fulfiled, I immediately moved the higher court with a serious complaint of presence of extra-legal considerations influencing the lower court.

My client’s relatives, who were by then frustrated, were advised not to go on the path of purity in justice as I suggested and to be practical. They were on the verge of replacing me. The higher court granted my client bail. Yet, I did not get my full fees from my client because he was kept behind bars for an additional three weeks as I did not pay a bribe.

Once I was arguing an application for interim injunction before a learned district court judge. After the arguments, the advocate for the other side said the order could be delivered on the 19th of the month. I said I would not be available and the matter be kept for order in the last week of the month. This went on for some time. I suddenly realised after an indication given by a local lawyer that this was not about the date but a camouflage as to how much and which client would pay for an order.

The other side wanted to pay Rs19,000 by saying the date of order could be delivered on the 19th and when I said that the date could be the week after the 19th, it was construed as if I was ready to pay more — between Rs.20,000 to Rs26,000.

I distanced myself from the ‘date game’ and said that it is for the court to decide on which date the order could be pronounced. The injunction order was given against my client. We could not destabilise the order even in the higher court.

In one of the matters of date of payment by a borrower client, I was asked to manage with the honourable court. I refused to be a part of the same and returned the brief. The very client, ultimately, got an order in his favour. I believe only in merit and not otherwise.

A lawyer friend, now practicing in the Supreme Court, told me when his father retired as a Supreme Court judge, lawyers and judges had a private get-together. At the gathering, the honourable judges of the Supreme Court came to the conclusion that 1% of the Supreme Court judges, 11% of high court judges, 33% of district court judges, and more than 55% of lower court judges are corrupt.

— The writer is an Ahmedabad-based advocate