IT has been one of Pakistan's main misfortunes that successive regimes, coming into power with the promise of cleansing the body politic of corrupt practices, have shown fewer qualms of conscience than their predecessors in indulging in them. As a consequence, those occupying positions of power began enriching themselves, which served as an open encouragement to government servants down the line to make hay. Graft touched newer heights. According to the Amnesty International Global Corruption Report 2008, corruption went up by 100 percent during the past three years. TI claims that President Musharraf converted army-granted farmland worth $690,000 into moveable property valued at $10.34 million and that full generals usually enjoy an individual wealth of $8.3 million. The report also underlines the tentacles, which the armed forces have spread in the domain of civilian economy. The report, while listing other irregularities, singles out the decisions of deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to set things right. For instance, the reversal of the privatisation of Pakistan Steel Mills to friends of highest government functionaries, pursuit of the cases of several hundred 'missing persons' and clearing the backlog of pending cases that had piled up were cited as a manifestation of his independence of mind. Although the people of Pakistan in general might be somewhat surprised to know that the practice of bribery to secure the supply of water for irrigation purposes is so widespread, the agriculturists, who bear the brunt, would find no news in the fact that officials concerned made eight times more than their salaries through this shady business. Nor would the TI's conclusion that in India it was still higher, 10 times, give them any consolation. The report constitutes a strong challenge to the political government that it needs to apply wholeheartedly to cleanse the Augean stables created by the endemic corrupt practices to set the house in order.