Streamlining fisheries trade issues

http://beta.dawn.com/news/773777/streamlining-fisheries-trade-issues

HAVING failed to persuade the European Union to open seafood exports to their region, the various fishery departments are at loggerheads for unfair intrusion into the affairs of each other oblivious of the fact that the fisheries sector has already greatly suffered at the hands of their disharmony and lack of coordination and conviction. The fact is that the Fishermen Cooperative Society (FCS) is a cooperative for the welfare of fishermen and their ancillaries such as fishing boat owners, mole holders, boat builders, ice and ration suppliers, fuellers, fish processors and others, whereas the Federal Marine Fisheries Department (MDF) and the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority (KFHA) are independent and autonomous departments assigned with the administrative and advisory responsibilities concerning fisheries.

As such, these departments find no role in the FCS except to carry out their ordained duties more efficiently and operate in coordination with the FPC or other fishery departments. It is the failure of these departments which is making them to save themselves from the ignominy of inaction by vying to seek undignified entry into an independent institution like the FCS, which has different functions to carry out according to its mandate.

Needless to say, the FCS has also failed to perform as it should and also needs major reforms to get rid of its old, salutary and inefficacious role as a cooperative for fishermen.

To make the Society really beneficial for the fishermen or the fishery, it should take immediate measures to stop bungling of a big chunk of commission it charges and earns through the sale of all fish landed and auctioned at the Karachi Fish Harbour and see to it that not a single fish gets sold out without paying prescribed commission to it.

Illegal auction of fish also ought to be taken strict notice of and steps taken to improve the condition of the fishermen as well as of the Karachi Fish Harbour to bring it in line with international standards so as to resume fish trade with the EU again.

MAZHAR BUTT Karachi

Dens of Corruption

http://tribune.com.pk/story/491089/dens-of-corruption/

Published: January 8, 2013

KARACHI:  About four months ago, I bought an apartment in Defence, Karachi. I applied for a sale deed registration at the relevant registrar’s office. When I went to collect the said deed after four months, I was told that it was not ready yet and that I should check again after a few weeks. Accordingly, I went there to collect the document but was again told it was not ready and that I should contact them after two months. Boggled by this reply, I consulted a lawyer and he told me that it does not take this long to register a document with the registrar. Equipped with this knowledge, I again went to the registrar’s office but no one there was inclined to give me any response about the fate of my document. Finally, a clerk opened up his day book, turned some pages and pointed to the blank entries there, which he explained were due to the reason that I had not applied for urgent registration and that my case had not even been forwarded yet for processing. More than four months had passed since I applied for the sale deed registration and yet I was told that the registrar’s office had not done anything about it.

I had a heated argument with the staff there, with the employees treating me as if I was a fool. While this altercation was going on, a person on the premises approached me, introduced himself as an advocate and said that he could get my documents for me and save me from more trouble. The long and short of the story is that the advocate took my receipt number, came out of the office of the registrar as if he owned the place and told me that he would deliver me the registered sale deed provided I bribed him or if I brought the seller into the office. How on earth could I bring in the seller who had already been paid in front of the registrar and had left after signing the documents at the time of the submission? I was finally reduced to thrashing out a deal with the advocate — who I discovered was a tout of the registrar’s office. He then went to his house and brought me the original sale deed and other official documents and thus the saga ended.

The moral behind this story is that the property registrar offices have turned into dens of extreme corruption and there is no check on their nefarious activities. How outrageous it is that they should pass over official records to their touts to blackmail applicants who come to register their documents? Evidently, this is not possible without the collusion of the registration office staff who employ such touts to firstly, illegally identify people who are complete strangers to them; secondly, these touts act as frontmen for the registration authorities to extort money from applicants by deceiving them that their documents would be registered if they bribed them and all this goes on while the documents have already been registered through the normal process and are lying with the registration authorities but who do not want to deliver them to the applicants without fleecing them.

The ministry concerned and the revenue board must look into the corruption brewing at the property registration offices. NAB must look into the issue as well and investigate how the employees at the registrar’s office live beyond their means and without any scruples of conscience or remorse.

Mazhar Butt

Unfair practice

http://tribune.com.pk/story/497638/unfair-practice/

Published: January 23, 2013

KARACHI:
Notices to the industrial consumers of the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) have been issued, in which they have been asked to pay additional deposits based on the average gas consumption during the last 90 days, failing which their gas connections will be disconnected. This is a new way that the SSGC seems to have employed to extort money from the already beleaguered industrial sector. Most industries have closed or are operating at less than 20 per cent of their capacity, while some are in the process of looking for more viable industrial pursuits, yet the present demand by the SSGC applies equally to all industries regardless of their operational status.

Those industrial units whose gas consumption has not increased but has rather decreased during the period of 90 days specified are still being sent demand notices for additional deposits. I believe that this comes under unfair trade practices. Therefore, the authorities concerned, including the judiciary is requested to intervene and prevent the SSGC from charging this amount.

Mazhar Butt

Speedy justice

Daily Times | Saturday, March 09, 2013

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013%5C03%5C09%5Cstory_9-3-2013_pg3_7

Sir: After the lower courts were instructed by the honourable chief justice (CJ) to dispose of long pending cases, it became heartening to note that old cases were transferred to another court of the same level for speedy disposal of the same. However, It was shocking to note, at least in one civil case, that a learned judge of the lower court, and possessing the same jurisdictional powers of that judicial forum, passed an order stating that the order passed earlier was null and void in the eyes of law — not his exact words but a gist of them. The question that comes to my mind is: does the transfer of a case or a judge in the same jurisdictional forum empower the new judge or court to override and nullify the orders passed by the preceding judge in the same forum and in the same matter? It does not appeal to my common sense that the negation of one’s colleague judge’s orders is lawful or in the interest of justice, the matter clearly falling in the jurisdictional ambit of the higher court. Such incidences, if allowed to occur, will only open the door for more delays and circuitous litigation because the affected litigant will definitely opt for a revision with the district judge, after which there could be apparent chances that the unlawful order will be reversed or stuck down. It would not be out of place to state that such arbitrary and careless use of speed in deciding judicial matters will only deny justice to litigants and will give results to the concept of ‘haste makes waste’. It may be desired of the honourable Supreme Court (SC) to see that the adjudicating courts do not use the powers or jurisdiction of the appellate courts or tend to act as summary courts while speedily deciding matters that, as a rule, ought to be decided on merit only.

MAZHAR BUTT
Karachi

NOT-SO-FREE JUDICIARY (On Judiciary in Pakistan)

http://www.worldlawdirect.com/forum/miscellaneous-topics/19913-such-scot-free-judiciary-no.html

20.11.2008

There is long going high talk about the independence of judiciary. While this is not a bad idea at all but the question is: Is it worthwhile to let the judiciary have its way given the state of 'elements' which constitute it?? I think not. The entire judiciary needs major reforms, inter alia, not only in the mode of appointments and termination of judges but also in harnessing, controlling and regulating the conduct of the officers of the court, viz the lawyers.

Lawyers, pleaders or the officers of the court as they are called 'grow' up to be selected as future judges. If their conduct and reputation during their legal practice is not exemplary and they are 'chosen' to decide the fate of litigations it is not hard to conceive the kind of judiciary we would be having and how the 'independence' of judiciary would end up in killing justice. Unfortunately, the conduct and character of many lawyers is not exemplary and they do not seem to be bound by any code of conduct. Since the lawyers are dominant fiduciaries of the litigating clients many of them are wont to 'exploit' them as well as play the role of 'devil's advocates'.

There have been many cases of non-prosecution, non-appearance and non-filing of necessary documents with the courts within the statutory period which go unreported. The wretched client, in search for justice, mostly suffers the brunt of law at the hands of his lawyers deliberate negligent conduct or incompetency while the lawyer is seldom held accountable for his excesses. This is all primarily due to the dominant position of the lawyer and the inefficiency of Bar Councils to cater for such contingencies. Bar Councils which are bodies of the lawyers cannot be said to be impartial in taking action against their member lawyers for their 'atrocities' committing aganst their clients.

Not that an independent accountability council be set up for hearing complaints against dishonest lawyers but also a separate and independent body should also be set up to select lawyers for the post of judges not only on the base of their experience but also their general reputation and past conduct. A judgeship qualification exam should also be made mandatory for lawyers aspiring to become judges of the higher courtsas well . Their conduct as well as that of those in the civil courts also be monitored by some independent agency. Needless to say corruption is too rampant among the court's paralegal staff . At every step the litigants have to throw them dough to expedite their work and most of the lawyers and their so called 'munshis' form a part of that 'cult'. Bribery is a common feature witnessed at the lower courts while the method of fleecing at the higher courts (excluding the Supreme Court) is done under a 'sophisticated streak' of extortionism. It is almost impossible to get certified copies of documents at the lower courts without greasing the palms of the copyist and the other concerned staff. Judges who were once lawyers themselves and had spent years in these courts cannot claim to be ignorant of this situation yet they seem to be helpless or uninterested or negligent in seeking measures to get rid of the corruption menace with the para legal staff...and to set the judiciary right. I dare say that without improving on some of the evils mentioned hereinabove and which cling and overshadow the existing judiciary

 The idea of a free and independent judiciary would be nothing but a fancy and futile exercise.

Mazhar Butt

Illegal orders

Daily Times | Saturday, March 16, 2013

Sir: Having been pushed into unending litigation for many years, it makes me think about why there is no accountability for judges who pass illegal orders. Why is a judge, who acts illegally in imparting justice, allowed to simply walk away unpunished? To clear my point, let me first explain what an illegal order is. It is an order illegally passed by a judge against whom the aggrieved files a review, revision or appeal as a last chance for getting justice and is an order that is remanded by the appellate court on the grounds of being illegal, null and void. Needless to say, a judge will only pass an illegal order if he is incompetent, callous or has some unknown reasons for taking such liberty with the law. If anyone wants to count the number of illegal cases reverted and retried he can look them up in law digests or ask any senior lawyer. It is definitely not desirable that any judge pass illegal orders or judgments for any reason and my prayer is that, if he does, he ought to be held accountable and appropriate action, such as suspending him, be taken by the higher ups. Unless judges too are made accountable it may not be possible to serve justice as the law itself tends to act as a tool of destruction in incompetent hands. If accountability is desired it should be desired for all without exception. It may be requested that the Judicial Council look into this matter as well.


MAZHAR BUTT
Karachi

Acquiring court orders

http://beta.dawn.com/news/796473/acquiring-court-orders

ON Sept 3, 2007, I had pointed out through these columns that court record and orders were either manipulated or stolen from a banking court. One such final order was stolen in 2000 and has not been retrieved or issued against the real date on which its certified copies were applied for.

After a series of complaints were made, the learned judge instead supplied a copy thereof in current dates by which time the limitation was over. In the meantime, the court proceeded with the case by issuing a sale certificate to the plaintiff/auction purchaser against which serious objections were at once lodged by the defendant but to no avail.

The learned judge self-admittedly said that he was ‘pressured’ by NAB and, in turn, ‘instructed’ by some senior judge to dispose of the case on the deadline and obviously that too in favour of the country’s one of the biggest bank defaullters whose name already happens to be with the Supreme Court.

By favouring them in the case matter, the aim was to shun and offload the third party from legal interruption with the obvious intention of squeezing out very substantial ‘reward’ which NAB, as a rule, is said to charge banks on such recoveries or from plea bargains.

With the passing over of the limitation due to failure of the banking court to issue appropriately dated and valid copy of the stolen order, the appellate court was not inclined to entertain the appeal, thus depriving the defendant of his fair right to justice.

This being so, will the honourable Supreme Court recall the matter and see why action was not taken against that banking court for alienating with final order and not supplying it to defendant on the date it was applied for until this day?

Needless to say, the defendant cannot be held liable for the delay in issuing order by the court as also envisaged in the Limitation Act. But, unfortunately, the courts rarely shift from the conventional practice of knocking out even merited cases on forced-out technical grounds, thereby unconsciously condemning such defendants unheard and in doing so unintentionally defeating the service of justice to the already aggrieved party.

May I request the Supreme Court to check this ancient trend in the courts below as the same is outrightly not what the Supreme Court aspires for.

MAZHAR BUTT Karachi