Report on motor capacity of BYD vehicles released expected in coming weeks: AG informs court

The Attorney General informed the Court of Appeal today (15) that the report of the expert committee appointed to determine the motor capacity of BYD vehicles—which were previously detained by Sri Lanka Customs and later released on bank guarantees—is expected to be submitted in the coming weeks, Ada Derana reporter said.

This statement was made by Additional Solicitor General Sumathi Dharmawardena, who appeared on behalf of Sri Lanka Customs during the hearing of a writ petition filed by the John Keells CG Auto (PVT) Ltd, challenging the detention of the imported BYD vehicles by Customs.

The case was heard before a bench comprising Court of Appeal President Justice Rohantha Abeysuriya and Justice Priyantha Fernando.

During the proceedings, President’s Counsel Manohara de Silva, appearing on behalf of a group of vehicle importers, requested court to grant his clients permission to intervene in the petition and present their concerns.

However, President’s Counsel Farzana Jameel, appearing for the petitioner company John Keells, strongly objected, arguing that the intervening parties had no legal standing to intervene in this matter. 

She further submitted that the Supreme Court has delivered multiple judgments stating that such interventions are not permissible in cases of this nature and presented those rulings to the court.

In response, Manohara de Silva PC told the court that the outcome of this case could affect 446 individuals involved in vehicle imports in Sri Lanka. 

He argued that the petitioner’s company may have imported the vehicles through unlawful or irregular means, and that their opposition to interventions seemed to be an effort to prevent those irregularities from being exposed.

At that point, Additional Solicitor General Sumathi Dharmawardena reiterated to court that a technical expert committee has been appointed to determine whether the motor capacity of the imported BYD vehicles is 100 kilowatts or 150 kilowatts.

The committee is comprised of Prof. Y.M.R. Amarasinghe, Prof. J.P. Karunadasa, a representative from the Government Analyst’s Department and a representative from the Department of Motor Traffic.

The Additional Solicitor General explained that the committee is currently conducting an investigation into the motor capacity of the relevant vehicles, and the final report is expected within the next few weeks.

He added that once the report is received, it will likely help to resolve the core issue of the case.

Following this, the Court of Appeal ordered that the hearing of the case be postponed until September 22 for further consideration.