A judge yesterday halted an auction of police weapons, vehicles and speedboats as the result of a claim that a rule preventing public officers from taking part was discriminatory.

Mr Justice Joseph Zammit McKeon temporarily upheld an application for an injunction filed by the Police Association and two public officers who felt aggrieved that they were being excluded from the bidding process.

An auction was meant to take place today for 129 vehicles, boats and spare parts that were previously used by the police force, while the weapons were to go under the hammer between tomorrow and Saturday.

The force was planning to auction off nearly 800 weapons that had been used by police officers or that had been impounded during investigations or seized by the courts, mostly in connection with environmental crimes.

Vintage pistols from the First Balkan War, police-issue firearms from decades past and rifles from a mysterious arms dump were all being made available to collectors.

However, the bidders were being asked to sign a declaration that they were not public officers, because they were not allowed to take part if they were. It has not yet emerged who laid down this rule.

The Police Association and two public officers filed an application,feeling aggrieved at their exclusion from bidding

But it prompted the Police Association and two public officers, Malcolm Bondin and Frankie Sammut, to challenge the exclusion, saying it was not based on any legal provision and was therefore “discriminatory, arbitrary and illegal”.

In the application, which was filed by lawyer Robert Abela, the parties said they had tried to avoid taking legal action but all attempts had failed.

The court has appointed the case to next week to hear submissions.

The injunction was filed against the Police Commissioner, the Home Affairs Ministry Permanent Secretary as well as auctioneers Pierre Grech Pillow and Obelisk Auctions Limited.

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