The Director General of Sri Lanka Customs agreed before the Court of Appeal today to release 991 vehicles of the ‘BYD’ brand that are currently detained by customs, subject to certain conditions.

This agreement was expressed after considering a petition filed by John Keells CG Auto, the authorised distributor for BYD vehicles in Sri Lanka, against the detention of the relevant vehicles and seeking their release.

The petition was taken up before the Court of Appeal bench comprising the Chairman of the Appeals Court, Justice Rohantha Abeysuriya and Justice Priyantha Fernando today (7).

Presenting a letter from the Director General of Sri Lanka Customs before the court, Additional Solicitor General Sumathi Dharmawardena stated that the release of these 991 detained vehicles could be considered under several conditions. 

Accordingly, the conditions state that the amount of nearly Rs. 3.6 billion, calculated as the difference between the taxes owed for the relevant vehicles, should be submitted as a guarantee in a state bank, and the petitioning company should agree to pay the interest applicable to that guarantee.

The letter also includes a condition that the petitioner should cooperate with the investigations being carried out by Sri Lanka Customs regarding these vehicles.

In addition, it also included the appointment of a committee comprising two technical experts from the Universities of Peradeniya and Moratuwa, an expert from the Government Analyst’s Department, and an expert officer from the Department of Motor Traffic (DMT) to conclude whether the motor capacity of the relevant vehicles was 100 or 150 kilowatts.

After the petitioning party agreed to several of the conditions presented, the Director General of Sri Lanka Customs expressed his agreement to the court regarding the release of the vehicles in question.