Jayaratne V.I.P. Services (Private) Limited v. Major General (Retd.) G. Vijitha Ravipriya et al – CA WRIT/156/2022-2022

In the case between Jayaratne V.I.P. Services (Private) Limited and Sri Lanka Customs, the Department of Fiscal Policy, the Ministry of Finance, among other related officials, the court addressed whether import documents for a used Mercedes Benz Elegance Hearse should have been retained after the assessed excise duty was paid. The holding established that Customs’ retention of import documents post-payment, amid conflicting duty assessments based on multiple Gazette Notifications and failing to apply revised relief granted in similar cases, amounted to unfair administrative treatment adversely affecting the petitioner. The principle reaffirmed is that administrative action must adhere to fairness, reasonableness, and non-discriminatory criteria especially when addressing import duty assess