BAHAWALPUR, Feb 12: Differences have surfaced among the legal heirs and some of the descendants of the late Nawab Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi over the auction of , what they claimed, his "so-called antiques" by the federal government implementation committee.

Some of the claimants, requesting anonymity, said a majority of them was opposed to the decision of the committee, headed by Justice Qadeeruddin Chaudhry (retired), because it believed that only the Nawab's wealthy heirs would purchase the valuables through auction.

According to other few, no more valuables were left at the Sadiqgarh palace. Before the sealing of the palace in 1984, they said, there were reports of pilferage in the palace. Arms, antiques and other valuables of the late Nawab were stole even after its sealing, they added.

They said antiques were stolen from the palace many times, but police didn't even register cases against suspects. Alleged thieves were, however, held on few occasions, but they were set free.

Sahibzadi Naseem Abbasi, the daughter of late Prince Haroonur Rashid Abbasi, a Pakistani ambassador in Tunis, has criticized the committee's decision to auction her grandfather's valuables. She appealed to President Gen Pervez Musharraf to cancel the auction scheduled to be held on Feb 16.

Talking to Dawn here on Thursday, she claimed that the auction could not take place because she, as a legal heir to the Nawab Sadiq's property, had not yet received her share according to the Shariat Law. She stressed that this was her right as a citizen of this country.

The auction, she argued, would be arranged without the consent of the legal heirs and the custodian - the government. Since the death of the Nawab 36 years ago, she said, none of the heirs was allowed to enter the premises of the Sadiqgarh palace, except in 1984 when the H U Beg commission (the former federal finance secretary) inspected the premises.

She claimed that Mr Beg in his report remarked that the palace looked like a junkyard with evidence of wholesale removal of items and re-arrangements of remnants.

Earlier from 1966 to 1984, the palace was left unsealed and it was Mr Beg, who had sealed the palace. The wholesale removal of items from palace was not investigated and no security measures were taken.

Ms Naseem Abbasi contended that there could be no auction of any private estate until certain legalities were completed. Instead of illegal auction, Justice Qadeeruddin should have confined the committee to the real issue pertaining to the estate's distribution in accordance with the Supreme Court references.

She said the committee should immediately release funds from the income of the estate, which were in the possession of the government, to help them get out of financial difficulties.

In her petition to the president, Ms Naseem said each of the heir should be given due share of property according to the Shariat Law. She further added that the auction of the valuables was not part of the terms of reference of the Supreme Court, which had ordered in 2001 the distribution of the Nawab's property within four months.

She alleged that the heirs at the implementation committee's meeting on Tuesday were not given time to voice their grievances, describing it as a mockery of justice.

FUNERAL PRAYERS: The funeral prayers of police constable Ahsan Maqbool, who was killed in an encounter with dacoits near Uch Sharif on Wednesday, were held here on Thursday.