[esteem_lover]

I saw at least a dozen brand new Corolla Altis lined up in front of the Lanson Toyota showroom this morning. All of them had the red beacon lights and were sporting government registrations. Wonder who these are meant for. The HC Judges were promised CIVICs because their OHC Vtecs were beginning to be get too old & 'unroadworthy'. Any clues ?

[vasudeva]

The way the Government is spending the taxpayers' money is outrageous. In this instance, HC judges are only human, and a newer car for the judiciary may be a good investment (not that they do not deserve it).

[esteem_lover]

Here's the news item that says the HC judges will get their 2003 OHCs replaced with CIVICs.

CHENNAI: The government has allocated Rs 4.26 crore for purchasing 36 Honda Civic sedans for the official use of Madras high court judges. A government order, making the budgetary outlay, was passed by the Home (Courts) Department on December 26. In the next few days, a total of 36 Honda Civic sedans will be made available to the official use of the Lordships. A government order, making a budgetary outlay of Rs 4.26 crore, was passed by the Home (Courts) Department on December 26, and the copies were sent to the high court a couple of days ago. Pointing out that the proposal to buy Honda Civic cars came from the high court represented by its Registrar-General, the government order said a sum of Rs 4,25,88,000 had been allotted to purchase 36 cars. Each car shall cost Rs 11.83 lakh, it said. Though Honda Civic cars in the open market enjoy only two-year free maintenance, the company dealer, TVS, has thrown in two more years of extended warranty for this batch of vehicles. “It is almost maintenance-free arrangement, as the norms for government vehicles fixed in 2003 holds that a vehicle would be eligible for replacement if it either completes five years or logs one lakh kilometre, whichever is earlier,” said an official. The new batch of 36 vehicles will replace as many Honda City cars, which are long past their prime. Now, the old vehicles will be used by the Public (motor vehicles) Department for internal allotment. “The old vehicles are in poor shape, and we send up a prayer each time we get inside these cars,” said a judge, adding that heated exchange of ideas preceded decision on the new Honda Civic sedans. While some judges pitched in for Toyota Innova, a couple of Lordships wanted Tata Safari or Scorpio for all judges. “Honda Civic found favour with a majority of judges for its elegance and poise,” said another judge. After a brief debate, the judges settled for a modest white instead of royal black suggested by some judges. The high court’s sitting strength of judges as on date is 43. So, who will not get the new car? “The junior-most seven, of course,” said a judge, adding that orders for more cars would be placed once the 14 new additional judges, whose appointment is expected in the next few weeks, assume charge. It was the then chief justice B Subhashan Reddy who ushered in an era of comfort and opulence in 2002, when he got a batch of 31 Honda City cars for judges. The state government had allotted Rs 1.78 crore for the vehicles. Though the then open market rate for the vehicle was Rs 7.5 lakh each, the court got it for Rs 5.75 lakh each, thanks to discounts by the company and tax waiver by the then government.

source

So who are these Corollas for ??

Or did the deal with Honda go wrong ?

[vineethvazhayil]

May be for some other set of bureaucrats. Judges get the Civic, ministers get the altis, how cool is that!

[loving_alaap]

Yup, it must be the deal with Honda went rong.

Honda must have refuse to pay black money to the govt person who has finalized the deal!!!!

[asr245]

2003 OHC VTECs in such a bad shape that they have pray before they get in? My dad has a 2001 OHC VTEC with more than 1.25kms clocked and it's still good for a lot more. Maintainence must have been real bad on those!

[esteem_lover]

They are in pretty good shape, just that the Judges want new cars.

[ajmat]

Well, when the high court judges in Bangalore got corolla's, for every 10 cars, one was free, but no one saw those cars. All dealings will be at dealer level

[Sahil]

I guess even the govt agrees that the Altis is better than the Civic!
I'm just kidding , don't mean to start a war again between Mr.Civic & Mr.Altis (I'm sure everyone knows who I am refering to) :

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by Sahil

I guess even the govt agrees that the Altis is better than the Civic!

The jury is still out on that one. Will know tomorrow after reading in the papers. I guess it could be for the politicians.

[Sowmya]

Irony is that the same GOVT try to support our home made Auto Maker. This same GOVT implement more tax on the imported/foreign company...
All with tax payer money

[narayan]

More importantly - when will those supposedly OLD OHC VTECs hit the resale market ? and what would be the procedure to pick up a car ? I am sure many chennai folks will be eager to grab one - i assume govt cars are maintained very well

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by narayan

More importantly - when will those supposedly OLD OHC VTECs hit the resale market ? and what would be the procedure to pick up a car ? I am sure many chennai folks will be eager to grab one - i assume govt cars are maintained very well

Narayan, those cars are to be handed down to the transport department, obviously they have been well kept & maintained only by Sundaram Motors. No luck on that one.

[slipstream]

Originally Posted by narayan

More importantly - when will those supposedly OLD OHC VTECs hit the resale market ? and what would be the procedure to pick up a car ? I am sure many chennai folks will be eager to grab one - i assume govt cars are maintained very well

thats the first thought that crossed my mind as well...but do refer to the news article posted by E_L once more....it says the old vehicles would be internally passed on for use in other Govt. depts

[vasudeva]

Originally Posted by narayan

i assume govt cars are maintained very well

By the time the process for procuring a Govt. car is over, that car would have rusted or died out.