Pakistan's Excise Department has suspended the registration of thousands of commercial vehicles. In total, the registration of 4,119 vehicles, which were apparently registered on bogus Army auction vouchers, has been suspended.

The department suspects more than 7,000 such vehicles were registered on counterfeit documents. The matter, which is now being seen as the biggest scandal related to the registration of used, smuggled and stolen vehicles, has jolted the excise department. These vehicles, one insider said, were being registered for several years by a group of officials within the Punjab Excise and Taxation department with the help of private individuals.

Officials familiar with the development said the provincial anti-graft body wants to initiate action against the culprits. However, the Excise Department is in favor of taking initiating action after formal verification of the vouchers from the Army offices. “Taking action without fulfilling the legal requirements will not help. Arrests without verification and investigation will only be done for temporary point scoring and then the culprits will easily escape justice,” said a senior bureaucrat. Therefore, he said, both departments need to follow the due process and then make the arrests.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2275624/bogus-documents-registration-of-thousands-of-vehicles-suspended