Working With Court Staff: A Junior Advocate's Guide to Punjab's District Courts
Every case in a district court passes through many hands before it reaches the judge. Someone receives your application, someone keeps the file, someone lists the case for the day, someone serves the summons and someone prepares the certified copy you need for an appeal. Judges decide cases, but court staff keep the system moving, and a junior advocate deals with them far more often than with the bench.
Young lawyers in Faisalabad and across Punjab often learn this side of practice the hard way: a missed date, a copy that never arrived, or an uncomfortable request for extra money. This guide explains who is who in a Punjab district court and how to get copies, inspect files and follow process service properly. It also explains where the line against improper payments lies, and how to raise a problem without damaging your practice.
Who is who in a district court
The Rules and Orders of the Lahore High Court govern the ministerial staff of the subordinate courts. The Punjab Judicial Academy runs separate training programs for readers, ahlmads, stenographers, record keepers, process servers, nazirs and bailiffs. Titles and the division of work vary between courts and districts, but these are the people you will meet:
The reader. The reader sits close to the presiding officer, keeps the day's files in order and notes what happens as each case is taken up. The Rules and Orders make readers and court clerks responsible for checking court-fee stamps on plaints, and a reader may be authorized to sign summonses where there is no clerk of court.
The ahlmad (muharrir). The ahlmad is the custodian of the court's judicial record: the files of pending cases, the registers, files moving to and from other courts, and decided files sent to the record room. If you need to know whether a paper is on the file, ask the ahlmad.
The naib court. In criminal courts the term usually refers to the police official posted to the court, who deals with police files, the production of accused persons in custody and case property. Usage varies, so the term may be used more loosely in some courts.
The stenographer. The stenographer takes the judge's dictation of orders and judgments.
The nazir and the nazarat. The nazir heads the nazarat, which keeps the registers of money deposited in court and supervises the process servers (bailiffs). Under the Rules and Orders, the staff who serve and execute processes are subject to the control of the High Court.
The copy branch. The copying staff prepare certified copies of orders, judgments and documents on application.
The record room. Once a case is decided, the file goes to the record room under the record keeper, and copies from a decided case usually come from there.
What the Rules and Orders say about papers and staff
Volume I of the Rules and Orders strictly forbids the ministerial staff to receive petitions, plaints or other documents directly from lawyers, their clerks or litigants, except when the judge is on leave. Applications are meant to go to the presiding officer or the officer appointed to receive them.
There are two practical exceptions. Applications by counsel for inspection of records may be presented to the presiding officer personally. Talbanas (process fees) and stamped postal envelopes filed by litigants are received directly by the ahlmad or muharrir, who should give a receipt whether or not one is asked for.
Many courts now use facilitation counters and electronic systems, so follow the arrangement your court has notified. The principle is the same: papers enter the record through an official channel, and you should always be able to show when and how they were filed.
Getting certified copies the right way
Certified copies are the raw material of appeals and revisions. Treat every request as formal work:
Identify the document exactly. Note the case number, the parties, the date of the order and whether you need the whole file or particular pages.
Apply on the prescribed form at the copy branch. Copy fees are charged under the court-fee law, and Punjab revised several court fees, including fees for certified copies, in 2024. Pay the current official fee rather than what a colleague paid last year.
Keep your receipt and the delivery date. If a faster category of copy is available, it carries its own official fee and receipt.
Check the copy before you leave. Compare the case number, date and pages. A missing page discovered later can cost you time you do not have.
Do not treat a download as a certified copy. The Lahore High Court has held that a copy downloaded from the court's website cannot be treated as equivalent to a certified copy.
Appeals and revisions have strict time limits, so apply for copies on the day the judgment is announced, or as soon as you are instructed.
Inspecting a file and checking dates
You will often need to see what is actually on the court file: whether a written statement was filed, what the last order says, or whether a summons came back served. Where a written application for inspection is required, present it to the presiding officer.
When you inspect a file, take notes on your own paper and never write on, remove, rearrange or add anything to the record. If a document seems to be missing, say so politely and note the date you checked.
For dates, the authoritative record is the order sheet. The reader can tell you what was recorded, and the district courts' online systems are a useful cross-check, as our guide to online case status and court tools in Punjab explains. Combine both with a case diary, as described in our guide to cause lists, adjournments and time management.
Process service: talbana, envelopes and reports
Unserved defendants and witnesses are one of the commonest reasons for adjournments. Much of the delay can be avoided on your side:
Pay process fees on time. The Rules and Orders direct courts to fix a date by which process fees must be paid. Note that date in your diary.
Give complete addresses. Check them with your client before filing, because a vague address almost guarantees a "not found" report.
File the postal envelopes required. Where the court sends notices by post, file properly stamped envelopes and keep the receipt.
Read the service report before the hearing. If the person refused or could not be traced, prepare the next step in advance.
Ask about official charges only. If someone says service needs extra money, ask the nazarat for the official schedule and a receipt. Anything outside that is not part of the process.
The line you must never cross
Young lawyers are often told that small payments to court staff are simply how things work. They are not part of any official procedure, and they put your license and your client at risk.
The criminal law. Section 161 of the Pakistan Penal Code makes it an offense for a public servant to accept or obtain any gratification, other than legal remuneration, as a motive or reward for an official act. Section 165-A punishes whoever abets that offense, whether or not it is actually committed.
Your professional duties. Chapter XII of the Pakistan Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Rules, 1976 requires a respectful attitude toward the court and warns against seeking special favor. Rule 175-A treats breach of these canons as professional misconduct.
Favors count too. Gratification is not limited to cash. Meals, gifts, mobile top-ups or "chai pani" offered for a date, a quicker copy or a look at a file raise the same problem.
Never ask for improper acts. Do not ask staff to change a date, back-date a paper, slip a document onto the file or show you papers outside the proper procedure.
Your clerk acts in your name. If your munshi pays someone "to get the work done," it reflects on you. Make your rule clear to everyone who works for you.
The Lahore High Court has publicly declared a zero-tolerance policy on corruption in the judiciary, and a junior who refuses quietly and consistently soon stops being asked. Our guide to professional ethics every advocate must know covers the wider duties.
Raising problems properly
Most problems with court staff are delays and misunderstandings, not misconduct. Handle them in steps:
Ask politely and specifically. "The copy was due on Monday; could you check the register?" works better than a complaint.
Check the record yourself. Confirm the receipt, the order sheet and the online status before you assume someone else is at fault.
Bring it to the court's notice. If a delay affects a hearing, mention it respectfully to the presiding officer or file an application.
Use the administrative channel. Persistent problems or a demand for money should go to the District and Sessions Judge. In October 2025 the Lahore High Court also announced a complaint mechanism against district court staff, with email addresses, WhatsApp numbers and complaint boxes at court premises.
Involve your senior and the bar. Tell your senior before you escalate, and raise problems that affect many lawyers through your bar association.
A calm, documented complaint is taken more seriously than an angry one.
Building good working relationships
Good relations with court staff rest on courtesy and reliability, not favors:
Learn names and greet people. Staff remember who treats them with respect, a point our guide to your first court appearance also stresses.
Choose your moment. Do not ask the reader for anything while the judge is hearing cases. Routine queries go better at quieter times.
Wait your turn. Pushing past litigants or using a senior's name to jump the queue makes enemies quickly.
Thank people, and mean it. A sincere word of thanks is appropriate. A payment is not.
Common mistakes junior advocates make
Handing papers to staff informally. A paper given by hand without a receipt can later be "never received." Use the proper channel and keep proof.
Relying on a verbal date. Confirm every next date from the order sheet, not from a passing remark.
Losing your temper at the counter. Arguments with staff are remembered for years and rarely achieve anything.
Frequently asked questions
Is it acceptable to give court staff a small tip to get a copy faster?
No. Pay only the official fee shown by the court and keep the receipt. Section 161 of the Pakistan Penal Code covers gratification other than legal remuneration for an official act, and section 165-A covers whoever abets that offense.
Who should I ask about the next date of my case?
The order sheet is the authoritative record, and the court's reader can tell you what was recorded at the hearing. Use the district courts' online case information as a cross-check, and enter the date in your case diary before you leave court.
What should I do if a court official asks me for money?
Decline politely, keep a note of the date and what was said, and tell your senior. Persistent demands should go to the District and Sessions Judge or through the Lahore High Court's complaint mechanism for district court staff.
Court staff will be part of your working life for as long as you practice. Treat them with courtesy, file everything through the proper channel, keep receipts and notes, and never pay for what the law already gives you. That reputation makes daily work in court easier, not harder.
About this guide: this article was checked in October 2026 against the Rules and Orders of the Lahore High Court (Volumes I and IV), the Pakistan Penal Code and the Pakistan Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Rules, 1976. We also checked Punjab Judicial Academy material and reported Lahore High Court rulings and announcements. Local arrangements differ between districts, so confirm the current procedure with your court before you rely on it.
