A businessman from Penal has won his lawsuit over the detention of nine luxury vehicles by the Customs and Excise Division (CED).
Earlier this week, High Court Judge Nadia Kangaloo granted Kess Kessoondan a default judgment in his case against the Comptroller of the CED and the Office of the Attorney General.
The outcome of the case was based on Justice Kangaloo finding that the defence relied on by the defendants had no realistic prospect of success at trial.
According to the evidence, in December 2020, police officers and officials of the CED visited his property to conduct a search.
The officers seized 17 luxury vehicles including seven Range Rovers.
After Kessoondan’s lawyers Kiel Taklalsingh and Vivek Lakhan-Joseph delivered notices seeking the release of the vehicles, eight were returned.
In the lawsuit, Kessoondan’s lawyers claimed that the CED did not have justification for the continued detention of the remaining vehicles.
They claimed that their client was entitled to compensation for trespass and conversion and for the depreciation of the vehicles, which was estimated to be $725,000 in 2022.
In defence of the case, the CED claimed that the vehicle remained detained as their probe into Kessoondan was still ongoing.
In rejecting the defence, Justice Kangaloo found that while the initial seizure may have been lawful, the continued detention was unlawful.
She found that the probe could not be allowed to go on indefinitely while Kessoondan’s vehicles remained detained.
She also pointed out that the CED failed to initiate forfeiture proceedings in relation to the vehicles.
She ruled that the inaction by the Comptroller amounted to an arbitrary inference with Kessoondan’s property.
The compensation to be awarded to Kessoondan is now expected to be assessed by a High Court Master at a later date.
Kessoondan was also represented by Shivash Maraj.
