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CJ orders GRA, GEA to hand over fuel seized from Van-West Charles’ company
Kaieteur News – Chief Justice (CJ) (Ag), Roxane George- Wiltshire, has ordered the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) to release 631,184.9 litres of fuel seized from Atlantic Fuel Inc. (AFI), a company, whose Director is Dr. Richard Van-West Charles, former Head of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI).
AHI Director, Dr. Richard Van-West Charles.
Van-West Charles’ company had sued the Commissioner-General of the GRA, Godfrey Statia; the GRA; the Chief Executive Officer of the GEA – Mahender Sharma; and the GEA on 22 December, 2020. The lawsuit was instituted on behalf of AFI by attorneys, Siand Dhurjon and Damien Da Silva.
Statia and Sharma had seized and detained the diesel fuel worth over $80 M in resale value, which was imported by AFI and seized by GRA on November 1, 2020. In an attempt to defend the seizure, lawyers Judy Stuart-Adonis and Colleen Sparman-Stephens, who represented GRA and GEA respectively, presented to the Court, an alleged false invoice used by AFI to import the fuel, which they claimed, gave the GEA and GRA wrong information on the supplier, value and quantity of the fuel.
GRA contended that the ‘full and applicable taxes could not have been determined ‘and that the release of the fuel would result in ‘significant losses of revenue’ to the government.
GEA had told the court that Sharma had the power to refuse to mark the fuel, because the fuel was not lawfully imported and because he held the view that AFI was not the ‘true importer’ of the fuel.
Attorney, Damien Da Silva.
Attorney, Siand Dhurjon.
The Energy Agency claimed that AFI was merely facilitating the importation of the fuel for another company, ‘Clean Energy Guyana Inc.’ It claimed further that AFI acted in breach of Petroleum Regulations 2014, when it imported the fuel by way of a false declaration.
Sharma had explained that the company in Suriname, which AFI claimed they purchased the fuel from, had sent a letter stating that they never transacted any business with AFI. Sharma later submitted, through his attorney Sparman-Stephens, that the GRA had power to seize and detain the fuel based on customs laws.
Added to that, Statia had pleaded to the court through his attorney, that they had the power to seize and detain the fuel because AFI was now charged with false declaration under the Customs Act, and so they therefore had the power to deprive AFI of the fuel because the false declaration ‘touched and concerned’ the fuel.
However, in her decision last Wednesday, the Chief Justice agreed with the contentions by lawyers for Van-West Charles.
Both Dhurjon and Da Silva argued that Statia and Sharma by causing the detention of the fuel, acted in violation of his rights to protection from the deprivation of property under Article 142 of the Constitution of Guyana.
The lawyers held that because the taxes and fees were already paid, ‘it was difficult to see how revenue owed to the State could be lost,’ as contended by the State agencies.
As such, Dhurjon submitted that the GEA and GRA had no power under law to hinder or impede the importation of the fuel.
In an invited comment after the ruling, the lawyer posited that “Atlantic Fuels Inc. has held the heads of the GRA and GEA accountable for their unconstitutional deprivation of its property. For as long as the rule of law exists in this land actions like those of the GRA and GEA will not be tolerated.”
In keeping with decision of the Court, the lawyer has since submitted a draft order, which outlined that the Chief Justice issued a number of orders including orders of mandamus to compel the GRA commissioner to release from his custody and control the fuel and the GEA to take all the necessary steps to mark the fuel.
In addition, the document pointed to orders for the payment of hefty storage costs which AFI now owes to the ‘Falls’ gas station storage facility, owned by China Zhonghao Inc., at Land of Canaan, EBD. AFI seeks a declaration that the cost is paid by Statia and Sharma.
The matter has been adjourned to March 8, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. to confirm the full amount of storage costs for which Statia and Sharma will be liable.
This is because, when the proceedings were filed in December, 2020, AFI had owed Falls approximately $4,528,678 in storage costs. Dhurjon has said that the storage charges that Statia and Sharma will have to pay have been greatly increased to about $15 M.
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