Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has won a case against Car Importers Association of Kenya (CIAK) challenging the Authority’s method of computing the eight-year-old limit of motor vehicles importation.
This follows a case that was filed by CIAK at the High Court seeking a declaration that computation of time for purposes of determining the age of a motor vehicle is from 1st January of the year of manufacture or the first month of registration.
The Association sought for an order requiring KRA, Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) and the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) to adopt a constant standard of determining the age as per the declaration they sought from the Court.
Car Importers Association of Kenya further stated that the perceived misinterpretation between KRA and KEBS amounted to an infringement of its constitutional rights and those of its members and was a breach of the obligation placed on KRA and KEBS by the people of Kenya.
In the Judgement delivered by the High Court in Mombasa, the Court held that statutory words override expectations.
This therefore means that a decision maker cannot act against clear provisions of a statute just to meet a person’s expectation. In such a case, the decision would be out rightly illegal and a violation of the principle of Rule of Law.
In dismissing the Petition, the High Court faulted CIAK for urging the Court to make pronouncements contrary to the law.
The High Court found that the role of KRA and KEBS are separate, distinct and governed by different statutes hence the Court cannot make declarations contrary to what is already provided in statute. The order sought by the Association would require amendment of the statutes which is the mandate of Parliament.
The court also held that; “There is no basis for the reading-in words into the statute as urged by the Petitioner, because it would depart from the rest of the statutory scheme and require a drastic word-changing construction of the legislation. In the light of these principles and the evident presence of clear enabling statutory provisions the proposed declaratory order will not reflect the intendment of Parliament.”
The High Court further stated that KRA did not breach any constitutional rights of CIAK.
Kenyan Business Feed is the top Kenyan Business Blog. We share news from Kenya and across the region. To contact us with any alert, please email us to [email protected]