Court of Appeal fixes order on BYD intervention petition for December 10

The Court of Appeal today re-fixed for December 10 the delivery of its order on the intervention petition filed by a Vehicle Importers Association, which is seeking permission to intervene in the writ petitions filed by John Keells CG Auto (Pvt) Ltd, the authorised distributor of BYD vehicles in Sri Lanka.

The petitions relate to a dispute over the motor capacity of certain BYD vehicle models that were held by Sri Lanka Customs.

On November 17, Sri Lanka Customs (SLC) informed the Court of Appeal that all BYD vehicles previously detained by the Department had been released, in line with the agreement reached between the parties at an earlier hearing.



The matters were called today for the delivery of the order on the intervention application. However, Court of Appeal President Justice Rohantha Abeysuriya and Justice K. Priyantha Fernando announced that the order will be delivered on December 10, and accordingly fixed the petitions for support on that date.

On November 11, the Court ordered the SLC to expeditiously release 625 BYD vehicles detained by Customs, subject to respective bank guarantees and corporate guarantees.

Accordingly, the SLC agreed to release the following vehicle models on corporate guarantees for the equivalent value of the bank guarantees: BYD Atto 2 Premium–70kw, BYD Atto 1 Dynamic–45kw, BYD Atto 1 Premium–45kw, and BYD Dolphin Dynamic–70kw. The Customs was also agreeable to release the BYD Dolphin Standard–49kw and BYD Sealion 7–100kw models on bank guarantees. 



Meanwhile, 130 BYD Atto 1 Dynamic vehicles and 74 BYD Atto 1 Premium vehicles were ordered to be released on corporate guarantees for an equivalent value of the bank guarantees, while 232 BYD Dolphin Standard–49kw vehicles and three BYD Sealion 7–100kw vehicles were to be released on bank guarantees.

President’s Counsel Farzana Jameel, appeared for the petitioners.