The Court of Appeal has ordered that the petition filed by John Keells CD Auto Private Limited seeking an order to release BYD electric vehicles detained by Customs be recalled on August 7.
The case was taken up before a bench of the Court of Appeal on August 5.
President’s Counsel Farzana Jameel, appearing for the petitioner, informed the court that the decision taken by Customs to detain the relevant imported vehicles was completely against the law. She further pointed out that Customs has the power to release the relevant vehicles on the basis of a bank guarantee.
Additional Solicitor General Sumathi Dharmawardena, appearing for Sri Lanka Customs, informed the court that 997 such imported vehicles are currently in the custody of Customs.
He also said that an expert committee comprising two professors from the Universities of Moratuwa and Peradeniya and two engineers from BYD Company has been appointed to determine the motor capacity of the vehicles (100 kilowatts or 150 kilowatts).
The Additional Solicitor General informed the court that pending the receipt of the report of the relevant committee, it may be considered to calculate the difference between the taxes payable on the vehicles and deposit that amount in the account of the Director General of Customs, and then only 6 vehicles can be detained for investigation and the remaining vehicles can be released.
The bench ordered that the petitioner’s position on this proposal be informed to the court on August 7.