EDITORIAL: Rise of gratuity culture in the highest judicial forums has prompted Justice Babar Sattar of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to question this bad habit.
In a letter to the secretaries of the Acting Chief Justice and other brother judges of the IHC he has expressed the concern that “the pernicious practice of court staff chasing after counsel and/or litigation parties, who have been granted relief by the court, to demand gratuity and handouts has begun raising its ugly head in Islamabad High Court recently.”
The honourable justice goes on to note that “such baleful practice” did not exist in IHC culture but demands of gratuity/handouts have been reported in the backdrop of certain court staff recently transferred from other high court to IHC.
He has advised the court registrar to verify the facts from video footage of the past couple of weeks to confirm whether any court staff can be seen demanding gratuity/handouts, and take strict action against those involved.
Gratuity or tipping is a token of appreciation for services rendered and makes sense in businesses, such as restaurants, grocery stores, hair cutting salons etc., where workers rely, to a significant extent, on tips to supplement their incomes.
In the present instance, as pointed out by Justice Sattar in his letter, the staff is full-time employees of the court, and paid appropriate compensation for their services and duties as fixed by law. Hence, for anyone to seek gratuity from a counsel or litigants for relief granted by the court “is an act of misconduct.”
Needless to say, fair administration of justice is the primary function of the courts, which must not be perceived as a favour or disfavour to one or the other party of litigants. For which the staff deserves neither reward nor rebuke.
Yet it has been a common practice for them to expect some remuneration from the parties who get relief from courts. There is a general misconception that once this practice takes root, it can be very difficult, if not impossible, to dislodge it.
But the late chief justice of Pakistan Afzal Zullah proved otherwise. After taking office in January of 1990 he fixed this nagging problem within days by ordering installation of CCTV cameras in the court premises to monitor any exchange of money between litigants/counsels and court staff — as suggested now by Justice Sattar — and strict action against offenders.
Another pertinent example is that of hospitals. In almost all hospitals patients’ relatives are routinely pestered for gratuity. But in the Aga Khan Hospital in Karachi and Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital in Lahore even when offered tips the staff refuse to accept them, explaining that they get a decent pay from the institution they serve. This shows if the courts and hospital administrations really want to address this issue, they can do so.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025