January 20, 2008	Sunday	Muharram 10, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 19: The auction of unclaimed vehicles from the Central Vehicle Pool was finally held in the first week of January after a lapse of nine years, yielding Rs14.822 million to the CVP.

The last auction was held in 1998, and after the Oct 12, 1999 coup orders were issued to freeze all activities at the CVP pending an audit.

The centralised vehicles’ pool, commonly known as ‘Nazarat’, was established in 1992 on the orders of the then corps commander of Karachi. It is being monitored jointly by the city district management and the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee.

The idea of setting up the Nazarat was to enable people to locate their vehicles, recovered after being stolen or snatched, at one place instead of looking for them at different police stations.

In the latest auction, a total of 164 cars and 849 motorcycles were offered for auction, out of which 125 cars and 635 motorcycles could be disposed of, CPLC chief Sharfuddin Memon told Dawn.

Regular auctions could do away with the misuse of vehicles which ended up with influential people, Mr Memon said, adding that they were planning the next auction soon after the forthcoming general election.

Vehicles being handed out on “superdari” to people other than their owners, in contravention of a court ruling, is said to be the core reason in the prolonged gaps in auctions, officials said. “Naturally when such ‘superdari’ vehicles of sound condition are being used by intelligence staff, army officials and senior police officials, they do not like auctions to take place, as they would have to surrender these vehicles,” an official of the home department told Dawn on the condition of anonymity.

The home department maintains a long list of the beneficiaries of the ‘Nazarat’, which includes intelligence agency people, army officers, police officers and politicians.

Justifying the use of these vehicles by police officials while replying to a query at a press conference held on April 28, 2007 on the Central Police Office lawn, the former city police chief said that “as these vehicles are unclaimed, it is better to keep them in running condition, otherwise they turn into scrap,” he said.

As the government abstained from spending anything on the CVP, the CPLC has spent Rs500,000 as part of the pre-auction preparations at the pool. “Cutting off the wild growth alone cost us Rs250,000, installing lights and other similar expenditure were in addition,” CPLC member Najeeb Danawalla said.

The central auction committee presided over by the EDO Revenue, comprising head of the Nazarat, representatives of the CPLC, headquarters of Rangers, headquarters of Five Corps, the home department, the excise and taxation department and the provincial police officer are supposed to oversee the auction.

“If a claimant turns up after an auction, technically or legally he cannot claim his vehicle, but the CPLC in the past has shown flexibility and compensated some deserving cases,” Mr Danawalla said.

There are 1,327 vehicles at the CVP which cannot be auctioned out as they are ‘case property’ and cannot be disposed of without court orders.

“In addition, there are 140 yellow cabs dumped in the CVP. The CPLC has written over a dozen of times to the respective banks to work out a plan for the disposal of these vehicles offered under the ‘prime minister’s scheme’, but none of the banks has taken a serious step in this regard,” CPLC chief Sharfuddin Memon said.

Once auctioned, these vehicles would need to be reregistered under Section 107 of the CrPC.

Since the ACLU has been decentralized and investigation of auto theft or snatching is being done at the police station level, there are greater chances of vehicles’ misuse at police stations.

In the past, the ACLU was the centralized body and worked in close liaison with the CPLC, which ensured that the recovered vehicles ended up in the CVP, a senior officer said.

Victim assistance plan

The CPLC has proposed that a certain percentage of the revenue generated from the auction be allocated for a fund meant for people whose motorcycles are lost and are financially not in a position to buy another one, the stolen vehicle being the main tool of their earnings. Motorcycles play a crucial role in the life of a large number of people who use the two-wheeler for their daily or monthly earnings by delivering goods or services. “Such people who lose their motorcycles to thieves or robbers would be the prime beneficiaries of this fund,” Mr Memon said.

For that purpose a committee should be formed headed by a representative each of the home department and the CPLC, he said, adding: “The committee can look into such cases and recommend financing of the cases found to be genuine and deserving.”