Marfot Ali, 60, came to the capital from his village in Gazipur, to file an appeal against a district court ruling related to a dispute over property he owns. Seeking to file his appeal against the court’s decision that had gone against him, he made his way to the Supreme Court where the Bar Association’s offices are located, hoping to find a lawyer who would take up his case.
When a stranger asked if he was looking for a lawyer, Marfot Ali said yes. The man seemed to be willing to help the villager, so Marfot Ali willingly answered all the questions posed by the man, who announced he was a lawyer once the old man gave him the answers to all his queries. To Marfot Ali’s relief, the lawyer offered him his services. The lawyer took him to a canteen, where Marfot Ali was plied with endless supply of snacks and cups of tea, while his “lawyer” sought to learn about his new client’s home, finances and the case.
Only when the “lawyer” had gathered all the information he needed from his client, he handed him a card with his phone number, and took all the documents Marfot Ali had on him, with the assurance that he would win the case for Marfot Ali. Charges for his services would be Tk50,000, but Marfot Ali pleaded he was a poor man, so they agreed on Tk25,000 to be paid in instalments. Tk15,000 was paid by Marfot Ali to the lawyer right then.
After two months, when Marfot Ali asked how the case was proceeding, his “lawyer” informed him the Lower Court Records (LCR) had not reached the High Court Division (HCD), and asked to be paid another instalment, saying it would expedite the LCR proceed to the HCD, so Marfot Ali agreed to pay Tk5,000. After 6 months, he inquired again about his case and was informed the appeal had been filed and notice served. His “lawyer” again wanted to be paid and Marfot Ali gave another Tk5,000. After four more months, Marfot Ali asked for an update of his appeal.
The “lawyer” informed him that the appeal is ready for hearing and he claimed another Tk5,000 more to make necessary arrangements for hearing. This time Marfot Ali inquired about his “lawyer” and came to know that the guy was not a lawyer, rather he was merely a clerk. In this way he receives briefs from the clients and conducts cases by employing a lawyer.
He is a middleman only. In most of the cases clients don’t know who their attorneys are. For this reason the cost of filing lawsuits is going up.
Moreover one has to spend extra money to bring their cases in the cause list, to get copies of LCR, even to get the certified copies of the court’s order. Suppose, your bail was granted by the court but you will not be released from the jail until and unless you spend money to have the court’s order prepared, signed and sent to the jail authority. Unfortunately in each and every step there are middlemen who receive big bucks from you and will have the tasks done by another one with comparatively lower cost. One can hardly reach a lawyer without a middleman. This way, many justice seekers become the victim of harassment and costs of the running lawsuits skyrocket.
Our Bar Council should take immediate action to ensure middleman free court and easy access of the clients to the lawyers. A systematic cause list should be maintained. Cases should be heard according to the date of filling the same. Orders should be supplied within a definite time, preferably, within seven to ten days.
I hope our court area would be more client-friendly where clients will have direct access to lawyers without any harassment.