e-Lelong will raise integrity of court auctions, says Chief Justice

PETALING JAYA (July 27): The online property auction platform e-Lelong for court auctions of immovable properties will be able to strengthen the integrity of the public auction process, said Chief Justice of Malaysia Tan Sri Md Raus Sharif.

In his speech at the official launch of the e-Lelong pilot project at Kompleks Mahkamah Kuantan, Pahang, earlier today, Md Raus said the online system will have positive impact not only on the courts but also on the public who are the bidders, the financial institutions and property owners involved in auction cases.

Describing the e-Lelong system as a comprehensive public service digital platform, he said e-Lelong will also encourage more bidders to bid, thereby increasing the chances for the public to own a property without pricing manipulation.

“With e-Lelong, the bidder’s identity is not disclosed to enable bidders to bid without interference, thus enhancing transparency and integrity of the public auction process,” he said.

Court auctions are currently being conducted manually at 15 locations of the High Court in Peninsular Malaysia.

“The manual process involves many parties — court officers, bidders, licensed auctioneers and also financial institutions. It is a complicated and time-consuming process. So it is not a surprise that problems and complaints arise from the manual auction process.

“The judiciary has been paying attention to these issues and complaints. So from the research conducted, it decided to shift the auction process online to improve the integrity and efficiency of the entire bidding process by implementing e-Lelong,” he said.

Md Raus added that, taking into consideration the facilities the judiciary currently has, the Kuantan High Court was chosen to launch the pilot project. The implementation of the online system will be expanded to the other 14 locations later.