The controversial enjoining order on the People’s Bank preventing the payment to Chinese Fertilizer Company and its local agent has been extended until the 19th of this month.
The Colombo Commercial High Court issued the order after reconsidering a petition filed by the Colombo Commercial Fertilizer Company today (09).
When the case was taken up, the lawyers representing the respondent Chinese Fertilizer Company stated that they had opened the letters of credit of the People’s Bank by submitting legal standards reports.
However, the lawyers pointed out that in such a background, suspension of payment was an illegal act and asked for a date to file objections to the case.
Additional Solicitor General Susantha Balapatabendi, appearing for the Fertilizer Company, earlier presented to the court that the respondent, a Chinese company called ‘Quindao Seawin Biotech Group of Companies’ who won the tender for import of sterilized organic fertilizer worth over Rs. 1 billion to Sri Lanka, took steps to send a consignment of fertilizer to Sri Lanka by activating the tender.
Accordingly, the Additional Solicitor General stated in court that although the company needed to ship the sterilized organic fertilizer to Sri Lanka, the relevant company had accepted in the ship’s instruction leaflet that there were microorganisms in the organic fertilizer.
The Additional Solicitor General further stated that the fertilizer sample sent by the respondent Chinese company to the National Plant Quarantine Service confirmed the presence of harmful bacteria and other organisms in some of its fertilizers.
In this situation, the petitioning party alleged that the respondent, the Chinese company had not fulfilled the conditions accepted in the tender.
Therefore, according to the letter of credit issued to the relevant Chinese company, the Additional Solicitor General requested the court to issue an injunction restraining from making or receiving payments to the company, its local agency or People’s Bank.