Customs officials have violated tender procedures by auctioning off an illegally imported Hummer to the illegal importer himself at a much lower price.
The said vehicle along with three other vehicles was imported to Sri Lanka on February 22 this year. Later they were confiscated and sold in public auction without incurring any loss.
However, the customs officials have failed to give a specific reason regarding the method followed in auctioning a Hummer type vehicle which was among those vehicles.
Although the estimated price of the vehicle in question was mentioned as 40 million rupees, it was auctioned for 27.5 million rupees the second time.
That is at a lower price of over 30% of the estimated value.
Under the Customs Ordinance, a tender board is only authorized to auction at a lower price that does not exceed 10% of the estimated value.
State Minister for Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya has ordered the Customs Department to give a report within a week regarding the incident.