A police constable at the malkhana explained, ``Stolen vehicles from all over the city are brought here. If no one claims them then they are auctioned. But most of the time they remain here because they are in such bad condition that no one wants to buy them.'' He said that he has been here for the last three years, during which time the pile of metal carcasses has only increased.

The auction is held twice a year, but few vehicles find their way out of Tis Hazari. Advocates say that this is because the police keep the cars which are in good condition and remove and sell the parts of others.

A DBA executive committee member talks about the time a Cielo found its way to the dump. ``We were so surprised to see such a fancy car here for the first time. But it didn't stay long. The next day a policeman came and drove it away. They take all the good cars. Who will come to buy the useless metal they leave behind?''

Honorary secretary of the Delhi Bar Association (DBA) Rajiv Khosla said that in November 1997, Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma had assured them that a site would be allocated at ISBT for the vehicles. Five months down the line the number of comfortably-parked vehicles has only increased. And this in premises where there is a desperate space crunch, with very little room for both parking and lawyers' chambers.

A lawyer who has his chamber adjacent to the spot said: ``This heap will never go away. It is a matter of getting used to it, like a scar on your body. But it is absolutely shocking that we have to be cramped in tiny chambers -- some of which can seat only two people -- and all this junk continues to occupy so much space. This is a criminal waste of precious space.''

The same advocate added, ``Authorities are callous, even those in charge of the courts. There is a deputy commissioner and a district judge in charge of this area. But the administration is only interested in furnishing its plush chambers, and we suffer along with our clients.''Of course the dump has its advantages for some. In the recent bar council elections, some of the rusting trucks and cars were used as campaign vehicles. The area received a facelift as bright posters were pasted on the immobile vehicles.

The government seems unwilling to allocate an alternate place. The lawyers have resigned themselves to the fact that they have to continue to work with this eyesore. With no one to claim the vehicles, it looks like they are here to stay.