The lawyers should play an important role in establishing the rule of law and curbing corruption, he said at a seminar at the district bar association auditorium.

Dr Kamal, also the president of Gano Forum, said a corrupt person, whoever he is, should be punished. There should be no discrimination in enforcing the law.

About the situation prevailing in the country, he said the state of emergency had been declared only to restore normalcy. Reforms in every sector have now become an imperative.

Dr Kamal lamented that the country became the champion in corruption for successive years, although 99 percent of the people are not involved in corruption.

The rulers had been in mad race for accumulating wealth out of public money for the last 15 years, he said, adding that corruption has assumed the proportion of a serious disease.

He also warned those lawyers who are involved in forging deeds and cheating the genuine owners out of their property. "This practice has to be stopped. The lawyers involved in the racket have no right to wear the black gown."