Corrupt court policeman modified dates on bail order after advocate refused to give in to his demand for a 5% fee cut
Corrupt court policeman modified dates on bail order after advocate refused to give in to his demand for a 5% fee cut
Peeved with a crooked court cop whose actions allegedly resulted in two accused to languish in jail for five days, a high court lawyer has complained against him to police and judicial authorities.
Mohammad Aslam, an advocate at the Bombay High Court, said that after he refused to comply with constable Prakash Lokare's illegitimate demand for a five per cent share of his legal fee, he deliberately extended the bail period of his clients by five days, by changing the dates on the bail order.
The formal complaint, addressed to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of the Esplanade Court, Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal and a senior inspector of LT Marg police station, asks authorities to take action against Lokare.
The complaint letter (copy available with MiD DAY), dated February 23, comes after this paper published a report ('Corrupt court policemen to be replaced soon', February 22) that 150 policemen deployed at metropolitan courts will soon be replaced they allegedly pass on confidential information to criminals for a fee, and interfere in judges' orders.
'Don't waste time'
According to the complaint, the LT Marg police had arrested two men, Rakesh Kumar and Mukim Rehman Qureshi, on January 17 on theft charges.
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The accused hired Aslam as their lawyer. For further proceedings, Aslam contacted Lokare, who is attached to the LT Marg police and looks into cases that come up at the Esplanade court.
The lawyer was surprised to hear Lokare demand a five per cent cut from his fees to initiate any bail proceedings, and flatly refused to comply.
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But Aslam's surprise escalated to shock when a snubbed Lokare told him that he had already hired an advocate for both the accused something he is not authorised to do. He even told Aslam to "quit wasting time unnecessarily".
"Lokare told me that he will not allow me to file any application unless I give him five per cent of my fees," said Aslam. "Other lawyers have similar problems with Lokare."
Aslam inquired of a judicial court and found out that the vakalatnama had already been filed in another lawyer's name.
Aslam suggested to the designated lawyer to bail out the accused. The lawyer filed a bail application the same day. The accused did get the bail two days later, on January 19, and the bail order was handed over to Lokare.
But Lokare, did not give the copy of the order to either the accused's lawyer or Aslam. In fact, out of malice, he allegedly changed the date to January 24 instead on January 19.
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As such, the accused had to remain imprisoned for five more days.
The Other Side
Lokare refuted the accusation altogether and said that he is not concerned with Aslam's complaint. "I have heard about the complaint against me. I never demanded any commission from him. Why would I ask for a cut from his fees when he isn't even the defendant's lawyer? He can do as he pleases. I don't care," he said.
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