Punjab govt blocks registration of eight vehicles

LAHORE: The Excise and Taxation Department has blocked registration of eight vehicles, making them non-transferable, on the recommendations of the Home Department, Punjab, The News has learnt.

According to Rizwan Akram Sherwani, additional director general (DG) Punjab Excise and Taxation Department, the vehicles of five persons have been blocked. An official of the Excise and Taxation Department said the vehicles were blocked on the recommendations of the Home Department because the names of these persons were placed on the list of Fourth Schedule. He said the owners of these vehicles cannot travel in their cars. If they travel, they will be caught on check-posts. If they travel, the Excise Department with the coordination of the Punjab Safe City Authority (PSCA) would share information with the relevant law enforcement agencies (LAEs), said the DG Excise, adding that the Fourth Schedulers cannot sell their vehicles as per law as their moveable and immovable property cannot be transferred.

The Fourth Schedule is a list on which suspects of terrorism and sectarianism areplaced under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997. The names of Fourth Schedulers are referred to the local police and law enforcement agencies for effective monitoring. If a Fourth Scheduler wants to move somewhere, he has to inform the nearby police station.

According to sources, the assets of these Fourth Schedulers have been frozen and their national identity cards and bank accounts have been blocked. Their names would also be added to the Exit Control List (ECL) by the Interior Ministry.

Fourth scheduler, or “proscribed person under law”, comes under a range of restrictions: One, he cannot move freely. Fourth scheduler cannot visit railway stations, airports and buses, nor is to be seen at schools, colleges and universities. If he wants to move somewhere distant, he has to inform the nearby police station, where a Station House Officer (SHO) deals with him. Fourth scheduler cannot even travel from the limits of one police station to another, without having permission in writing by the SHOs of the two stations.

Fourth scheduler is also constrained to participate or attend public gatherings. A person is placed on the list, or expunged from it, by the home department and the concerned deputy commissioner, on the basis of intelligence reports. Usually, the name is placed for three years, but the duration can also be extended.